Liz Morgan

Studying the Geosciences for my Bachelors’ Degree has allowed me to explore my physical world in so many ways. I have seen volcanoes erupting, glaciers caving, billion year old rocks, and braided river systems. To me, these landscapes have always been alive with forces of crustal power and water erosion. However, once I set foot into the world of the diatom, I now realize that I was missing half of the environmental picture. These beautiful creatures are mesmerizing and to me, this course in diatom ecology has been a life-altering experience. I am interested in natural disaster mitigation and studying landslides along the Wasatch Front will allow me to use my new diatom interpretation skills to recreate paleo-climate and ultimately allow for the understanding of current landslide potential in areas that are historically known to have enormous mass-wasting features.