Ninad Bondre, Ph.D. student. One portion of Ninad's Ph.D. research is focused on the tectonomagmatic development of the Jordan Valley Volcanic Field of southeastern Oregon. This volcanic field lies at the northern edge of the Owyhee Plateau and encompasses a number of monogenetic basalt vents ranging from approximately 5 Ma to 10 ka in age. The products of these magmatic systems are chemically and isotopically heterogeneous and range from olivine tholeiites to mildly ne-normative alkaline basalts, including relatively primitive compositions.

Steve Pasquale, M.S. student. Steve's thesis research is focused along the southern margin of the Oregon Plateau to the west of the Pueblo Mountians. The goal is to understand the tectonomagmatic evolution of the Hawks Valley - Lone Mountain area, a mid-Miocene silicic dome and dome complex dominated volcanic field. Numerous vents are identified and have produced primarily effusive materials ranging from trachyte and trachydacite to rhyolite. Vent distribution suggests a strong control by reactivated regional structural weaknesses during hightened mid-Miocene mafic magma input into the crust.

Tom Hinterberger graduates from Edinboro University of PA this May and will join my research group as a M.S. student. Tom's specific thesis project has not yet been determined, but likely will focus on a detailed geochemical and petrologic investigation of magmatic processes responsible for intermediate to silicic volcanism in the southeastern portion of the High Lava Plains region.

Emily Short graduates from Bucknell University this May and will join my research group as a M.S. student. Emily plans to focus her research efforts on two Pleistocene monogenetic basalt fields that help to define the western edge of the Owyhee Plateau; the Saddle Butte and Jackies Butte fields of southeastern Oregon. Together with our ongoing work in the Jordan Valley Volcanic Field, this research will address basalt petrogenesis at the southeastern end of the High Lava Plains.