Department of Geophysical Sciences
 

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Dr. Lawrence R. Guth is a tenured Assistant Professor in the Department of Geophysical Sciences at Fitchburg State College. He teaches courses in physics,  geology  and physical  geography .    

CONTACTS   

  • Phone: 978.665.3082
  • Fax: 978.665.3081
  • e-mail: lguth@fsc.edu
  • Office: McKay B240e
His Ph.D. was from Rice University in structural geology, but with BS and MS degrees in geological engineering and work experience as a geophysicist, his interests gravitate toward the quantitative earth sciences. 

EDUCATION

1991 Ph.D. in Geology from  Rice University
    Dissertation: Kinematic analysis of the deformational structures on eastern
                            Isla de Margarita, Venezuela

1983 M.S. in Geological Engineering from the  University of Utah
    Thesis: Theories and applications of calcite and quartz paleopiezometers

1977 B.S. in Geological Engineering from  Michigan Technological University
    Senior Thesis: Snowpack geochemistry

PUBLICATIONS

Avé Lallemant, H.G. and Guth, L.R., 1989, Blueschists, eclogites, oblique subduction, and extensional tectonics in Northeastern Venezuela [abs.]: EOS (American Geophysical Union Transactions), v. 70, p. 1373.

-----1990, Role of extensional tectonics in exhumation of eclogites and blueschists in an oblique subduction setting: northeastern Venezuela: Geology, v. 18, p. 950-953.

Guth, Lawrence R., 1977, Analysis of EPA precipitation data from western Lake Superior: Student Conference in Earth Science Abstracts with Programs, v. 2, p. 13.

-----1981, Estimating the gravitationally induced component of in-situ stress [abs.]: EOS (American Geophysical Union Transactions), v. 62, p. 1026.

-----1983, Theories and applications of calcite and quartz paleopiezometers [MS thesis]: Salt Lake City, University of Utah, 227 p.

-----1987, Microcomputer contouring of stereographic projections: variations on a theme in 128k: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 19, No. 7, p. 688.  [Go to poster]

-----1991, Kinematic analysis of the deformational structures on eastern Isla de Margarita, Venezuela [Ph.D. thesis]: Houston, Rice University, 582 p.

Guth, Lawrence R. and Avé Lallemant, H.G., 1986, Kinematic analysis for the deformation of Margarita Island, Venezuela: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 18, No. 6, p. 623.

-----1988, Extensional tectonics in an accretionary complex: Margarita Island, Venezuela: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 20, No. 7, p. A61.

-----1989, Kinematic history for eastern Margarita Island, Venezuela: Caribbean Geological Conference, 12th, St. Croix USVI, Abstracts, p. 69.

-----1990, A kinematic history for eastern Margarita Island, Venezuela, in Transactions, Caribbean Geological Conference, 12th, St. Croix USVI, August 1989: South Miami, Miami Geological Society, p, 472-480.

Guth, Lawrence R.,  Bruhn, R. L. , and  Beck, S. L. , 1981, Fault and joint geometry at Raft River Geothermal Area, Idaho: DOE/DGE Report 12079-41, Contract DOE-ACo7-80ID12079, Salt Lake City, Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Utah, 19 p.

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

PROFESSIONAL INVOLVEMENT

IN THE FSC COMMUNITY

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Fitchburg State College (1993 to present)

The Department of Geophysical Sciences does not use teaching assistants. The professor responsible for the class teaches all lectures and labs, and grades all assignments. You don't get that at  those high-priced schools.   Environmental Geology is part of the FSC Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) -- Earth Science program. Students finding classes frequently canceled by DGCE due to low enrollment might want to check out the distance learning program  Master of Science in Science Education out of Montana State University. The program is affiliated with the  National Teachers Enhancement Network (NTEN) . Dr. Guth found the three distance learning courses he took from NTEN to be excellent.

Teaching Assistant, Rice University

Teaching Assistant, University of Utah

WORK AND LIFE EXPERIENCE

 Go To Guth Travel Page

GEOLOGICAL ENGINEERING TENDENCIES

My mother was a miner on the Upper Malamute
My father was a pervert in a house of ill repute
They taught me how to gross and belch and chug and be uncouth
And when they didn't know the score, they called on.....Dr. Guth?
 
Engineer Fight Song, verse 17 (slightly modified)
 Michigan Technological University
 

Geophysical scientists tend to be earthy people. As a result, students find all professors in the department  to be eminently approachable.  The only swelled heads a student will encounter in the Department of Geophysical Sciences are those associated with confined aquifers.

Dr. Guth is also trained as a geological engineer. A necessary trait for all engineers is their attention to detail. This is a good trait, for the littlest things make a big difference. A misplaced decimal point can change the safety factor for slope stability from 0.90 (failure -- "Sorry your house was destroyed in that landslide") to 9.0 (over designed -- "Sorry you spent those big bucks to stabilize that stable slope").  Call engineers anal-retentive, and they will insist that you hyphenate that adjective. Dr. Guth is no exception.  Numerical solutions must be expressed with the proper units and the correct number of significant figures to get full credit. All written assignments, even physics labs, are graded on the English as well as the science. Adherence to the style guides provided for term papers and lab reports is evaluated as part of the final grade. For any worthwhile project, the job isn't really finished until the paperwork is accepted, disseminated,  and read. The bottom line is that earthy and anal-retentive are not mutually exclusive. That is the nature of geological engineering tendencies.

Disclaimer: For those SADD and MADD members out there, Dr. Guth claims that the above verse does not encourage binge drinking. An engineering "Plug and Chug" problem is one where the unknown variable has already been isolated algebraically. To solve, you only have to plug in the known quantities and chug it out on a calculator. Anyway, that's his story and he's sticking with it.


Page and photos by Guth © 1998.08.27
late updated 2000.07.12.