Ms. Janet Dewey

Research Projects

My research is focused in a variety of geochemical areas such as watershed processes, water-rock interaction, weathering process, and forest soils and hydrology. I am currently working on weathering in the Laramie Range, in-situ uranium in the Powder River Basin, and silica aerogels as a proxy for amorphous silica. I am also writing the third edition of the Roadside Geology of Wyoming along with Erin Campbell of WSGS and Dave Lageson of Montana State University.

I am the director of the Geochemical Analytical Laboratory housed in the Department of Geology and Geophysics. The facility is largely dedicated to water chemistry but has other capabilities. The facility houses ion chromatography, inductively-coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry, inductively-coupled plasma mass-spectrometry, gas chromatography mass-spectrometry, atomic absorption spectrometry, flash combustion elemental analysis, and surface area analysis, among others. The facility is available to students, staff and collaborators for research. The facility is also a teaching facility where students gain hands-on experience in applied geochemical methods.

Courses

GEOL 2080 Field Geology
GEOL 5410 Geochemical analytical Methods
GEOL 5851 Independent study in Environmental Geology
GEOL 5852 Independent Study in Geochemistry

Teaching Statement

My teaching philosophy is based on active, hands on learning. My two primary teaching responsibilities are graduate Geochemical Analysis and undergraduate General Field Methods. Whether in a formal classroom setting or in an analytical laboratory, my primary goal is to help students become comfortable with techniques and their ability to use them effectively.

In Geochemical Methods, I teach students how to utilize technologies such as ion chromatography and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry.  I have trained students for 25 years in the basics of instrumentation and analysis, how to develop research methods to suit their analytical needs, how to use quality control procedures to ensure precision and accuracy of results, how to identify valid vs. spurious data, and how to report data in a meaningful way.  I teach students how to take ownership of their instruments and data in order to enable them to better understand the utility and reliability of their data.

General Field Methods is an applied field course in which I teach students how to identify rocks in the field, how to use tools such as a Brunton compass and Jacob staff, how to measure section, how to prepare geologic maps, cross sections, and stratigraphic columns, and how to solve for unknowns using tools such as three-point problems. Techniques are taught in a field setting in the Laramie and Snowy Ranges while learning about Wyoming geology from the Archean through the Cenozoic. As a Registered Professional Geologist in two states, I believe that there is no substitute for experience on the outcrop and that the earlier students are exposed to field geology the stronger their backgrounds.

Selected Publications

Zarzycka, S.E., Surovell, T.A., Mackie, M.E., Pelton, S.R., Kelly, R.L., Goldberg, P., Dewey, J., Kent, M. In press. Long-distance transport of red ocher by Clovis foragers. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.

Herz-Thyhsen, R., Kaszuba, J., Dewey, J. 2019. Dissolution of minerals and precipitation of an aluminosilicate phase during experimentally-simulated hydraulic fracturing of a mudstone and a tight sandstone in the Powder River Basin, WY. Energy & Fuels. DOI:10.1021/acs.energyfuels.8b04443.

Ouyang, Y., Grace, J., Zipperer, W.C., Hatten, J., and J.C. Dewey. 2018. A Simple Method to Estimate Daily Loads of Total, Refractory and Labile Organic Carbon from their Seasonal Loads. Environmental Science and Pollution Research 25(22): 21731–21741.

Hatten, J.A., E.B. Sucre, Z. Leggett, J. Mack, S. Roberts, J. Dewey, and B. Strahm. 2015. Explaining the apparent resiliency of loblolly pine plantation to organic matter removal, P. 237-243 In: Holley A.G., Conner, K.F., Haywood, J.D., eds., Proceedings of the 17th biennial southern silvicultural research conference, e-Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS–203. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station.

Choi, B., J.A. Hatten, J.C. Dewey, A.W. Ezell, and K. Otsuki. 2014. Impacts of three silvicultural prescriptions on sediment mobility and water quality in headwater streams of managed, forested watersheds in the Upper Gulf Coastal Plain of Mississippi. Journal of the Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University, 59, 191-2032.

Hatten, J.A., Mack, J., Sucre, E., Roberts, S., Leggett, Z., Dewey, J. 2014. The effect of organic matter manipulations on site productivity, soil nutrients, and soil carbon on a southern loblolly pine plantation. Forest Ecology and Management 326: 25-35.

Choi, B., J.A. Hatten, J.C. Dewey, K. Otsuki and D. Cha. 2013. Effect of Timber Harvesting on Stormflow Characteristics in Headwater Streams of Managed, Forested Watersheds in the Upper Gulf Coastal Plain of Mississippi. Journal of the Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University 58: 395-402.

Choi, B., J.C. Dewey, J.A. Hatten, A.W. Ezell, and Z. Fan, 2012, Changes in vegetative communities and water table dynamics following timber harvesting in headwater streams, Forest Ecology and Management 281, pp. 1-11.

Grebner, D.L., Londo, A.J., Sun, C., Grado, S.C. Sumerall, D.C., Dewey, J.C., Nero, B.G., and R.P. Maiers. 2010. Potential carbon sequestration opportunities and issues for bottomland hardwood afforestation in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley. Chapter 27, In: Reck, R.A. (Editor). Climate Change and Sustainable Growth. Linton Atlantic Books, Ltd. 453 p.

Manley, S.W., Kaminski, R.M., Schoenholtz, S.H. and Dewey, J.C. 2009. Soil and nutrient retention in winter managed rice fields and implications for watershed management. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 64(3):173-182.

Dewey, J.C., S.H. Schoenholtz, J.P. Shepard, and M.G. Messina.  2006. Issues related to wetland delineation of a Texas bottomland hardwood forest. Wetlands 26(2):410-429.

Dewey, J. Roberts, S. and I. Hartley. 2006. A comparison of tool for remotely estimating leaf area index in loblolly pine plantations. Pp. 71-75. In: Conner, K. (ed.) Proceedings of the 13^th Biennial southern silvicultural research conference. Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS-92. Asheville, NC. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station.

Coker-Dewey, J., M.G.  Steltenpohl, and A. Andresen. 2000. The geology of western Ullsfjord, North Norway, with emphasis on the development of an inverted metamorphic gradient at the top of the Lyngen Nappe Complex. Norges Geologiske Tidsskrift 80:111-128.

Coker-Dewey, J., M.G. Steltenpohl, A. Andresen , and M.J. Kunk. 1995. An 40Ar/39Ar thermochronology of the Ofoten-Troms region: Implications for terrane amalgamation and extensional collapse of the northern Scandinavian Caledonides. Tectonics 14:435-447.