| Faculty Advisor |
James Benes
|
|---|---|
| Contact Email | jbenes2@nebraska.edu |
| Advisor College: |
Arts and Sciences
|
| Potential UCARE Research Position? |
Yes! Student(s) must apply to UCARE by February deadline.
|
| Paid or Volunteer |
Paid by UCARE Stipend (Summer & AY!)
|
| Hours Per Week |
10-20
|
| Acceptable Undergraduate Majors |
Geography, Anthropology, Global Studies, Geology, Environmental Sciences, Math, Engineering, any field related to Earth Sciences
|
Position Description:
A sediment core was extracted from Dewey Marsh in the Nebraska Sandhills in May of 2023 by a team of researchers from UNL. It was split into halves and has been refrigerated in a lab at the university in order to prevent microbial growth. The core is approximately 350 centimeters long, and it will first be divided into one centimeter-long sections, making approximately 350 samples. Then, the lithology of the core will be described and catalogued using Munsell charts and tools. Additional analysis will include grain size analysis, which will provide information about the stratigraphy and soil of the Sandhills as the sediment was deposited over time. Students will also extract macrofossils and seeds from each centimeter of the core, and these will then be identified and set aside for Carbon-14 dating. Students will sieve the remaining sediment to separate the charcoal, and then chemically process the charcoal in order to prepare it for analysis. The number of charcoal particles and the size of the charcoal particles will be counted and recorded. This data will then be used to construct an idea of what the fire history was like and how it changed over time. The size of the charcoal particles is an indication of how close or far a fire was to the location that the core was extracted from–larger charcoal pieces suggest that the fire took place in an area near the extraction site, while smaller charcoal particles show evidence of fires further away.
Faculty Advisor Mentoring Philosophy:
My mentoring style is to be a servant leader. I aim to guide and ask questions to help those that I am mentoring for them to discover the solutions on their own. One of my values is to offer an ecosystem of learning where anyone can ask a question as many times as they need. I like repeat questions or, revisiting concepts as needed. Students are curious and meeting their curiosity with open-endedness and encouragement usually leads to continued growth in academic relationships.
Settling clear goals and expectations is essential to the mentoring experience and I like to make sure that I provide ample time to ask clarifying questions about projects when I work with students. Also, understanding that projects are messy and the “perfect shouldn’t be the enemy of the good”. We all have different learning styles and focusing on the “exact right answer”, or “exact right outcome” might limit some students and result in disengagement.
In the end, I like to treat others as I would like to be treated – and how I have been treated by my mentors. That is with respect, dignity, and with good humor. A fun, jovial atmosphere is what I intend to create to foster any great mentorship.