The Next Step

It's been a few months since I last posted, so I figured I would get on it. First of all, I defended my master's thesis on May 13th. The defense went fairly well, and I received an award for the best geology master's thesis presentation (http://www.geology.sdsu.edu/people/students/theses/spring2009/dale_burns.html). When I last posted, I was about to attend AGU in San Francisco to present my research. The conference went very well, and I made many contacts, some of which would prove very important in the following months. After AGU, I spent some time in Leggett, during which, Adam Manus and I did some recording at his place. Most of the people reading this have probably either heard Adam and I perform the song or at least heard the CD. Following the holidays, I returned to San Diego and returned to the world of research. The day before I returned to San Diego, I was invited to Oregon State University to interview for a Ph.D. position in the Volcanology, Igneous Petrology, and Economic Geology research group (http://www.geo.oregonstate.edu/research_groups/viper/).

After returning to San Diego and returning to work, I was offered the Ph.D. position at OSU, which I readily accepted. At OSU, I will be running an electron microprobe laboratory, while developing high precision micro-analytical techniques (geochemical) for studying silicic magma chambers (explosive magma chambers). The project will also require me to spend some time in the Central Andes (South America), which should be great .  At OSU, I will be joining one of the best volcanology research groups in the world, and I could not be more excited. We are set to move up to Corvallis during the last week of June.

Away from academia, I have continued playing music, and it has proven very rewarding. I started playing with a group of guys from the La Holla area about 3 months ago, and we have recently started playing shows. Two weeks ago, we played at a venue in Lee Vining, near the eastern entrance to Yosemite. The gig was great, the people at the venue were great, and of course, the scenery was out of this world. We played for about 4 hours, and I even sang a couple of songs. We have another gig this Wednesday night at the Skybox in Clairemont Mesa. 

Finally, perhaps the most exciting news, in about a week, Cerise will be finished with her bachelor's degree. She will have a degree in geology from Humboldt State University. She finished her last upper division classes while working as a science educator at the Ruben H. Fleet Science Center. If you know Cerise, give her a shout. She has put in a lot of work, and finished her bachelor's degree in a very difficult field.

Anyway, that concludes this post. I will post again after we arrive in Corvallis.

Dale Burns