News Release
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May 10, 2006
Boise State University Awards First Ph.D. at Spring
Commencement
Two Ed.D. candidates also to be hooded at May 13 ceremonies
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Geophysics Ph.D. candidate Greg Oldenborger,
right, and geosciences research |
When Greg Oldenborger walks across the stage Saturday at Boise State
University’s Spring Commencement, he’ll make school history.
Oldenborger, who is from Vancouver, B.C., is the first person to earn a
Doctor of Philosophy degree, or Ph.D., from Boise State. He’ll receive his
Ph.D. in geophysics, one of four doctoral programs now offered at the
university.
While Oldenborger is Boise State’s first Ph.D. graduate, he isn’t the first
Bronco to earn a doctoral degree. That honor goes to Alecia Baker, who
received a Doctor of Education degree, or Ed.D., in curriculum and
instruction in 1997. Spring Commencement will also include hooding
ceremonies for two Ed.D. candidates, Barbara Schroeder and Kerry Rice.
“It feels great,” said Oldenborger, about successfully defending his
dissertation and completing the requirements for a Ph.D. “I enjoyed the time
I’ve spent here at Boise State, and I’ve appreciated the opportunity to work
with some outstanding professors in the Department of Geosciences. Now I’m
looking forward to some new challenges.”
Oldenborger has accepted a position as a post-doctoral fellow at the
University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, where he will continue
his research in the area of electrical and electromagnetic geophysics. He
plans to pursue a career as a university professor.
“Greg is very hard-working and independent, and I think he will find a lot
of success in the future,” said Michael Knoll, a geosciences research
professor who served as chair of Oldenborger’s Ph.D. supervisory committee.
“He is an excellent student — he knows how to identify what is significant
about a problem, and he has the technical skills to solve it and the
communication skills to explain it.”
Oldenborger spent about four and-a-half years enrolled in Boise State’s
research-intensive Ph.D. program in geophysics. During the first two years
of his program, Oldenborger completed his coursework and worked on several
research projects in the university’s Center for Geophysical Investigation
of the Shallow Subsurface (CGISS). He then successfully passed a
comprehensive exam and went to work on his dissertation, titled “Advances in
Electrical Resistivity Tomography: Modeling, Electrode Position Errors,
Time-Lapse Monitoring of an Injection/Withdrawal Experiment, and Solution
Appraisal.” The dissertation involved using electrical geophysics techniques
to monitor and predict how contaminants would flow through the Earth’s
subsurface.
Oldenborger presented talks and papers at national and regional conferences,
had several chapters of his dissertation published in leading peer-reviewed
scholarly journals and has two other journal papers pending. In addition, he
published a paper on the geostatistical analysis of ground penetrating radar
data that resulted from his “breadth project,” part of his comprehensive
exam.
“Greg’s dissertation work is first-rate,” added Mark Everett, a geophysics
professor at Texas A&M who served as the external examiner for Oldenborger’s
dissertation. “He has made several important advances in our understanding
of the electrical resistivity tomography technique for monitoring subsurface
contaminants. Boise State can be very proud of its first Ph.D. graduate.”
Oldenborger’s interest in both the practical aspect of the geophysics as
well as theory makes him unique among his peers, added Partha Routh, a Boise
State geosciences professor and co-chair of Oldenborger’s supervisory
committee.
“It is difficult to find people who have expertise in both hydrology and
geophysics with the focus on solving practical problems and making
theoretical advances,” Routh said. I had great fun working with him on
several problems related to his thesis and we plan to collaborate in future
on problems of common interest.”
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Contact: Greg Oldenborger,
greg@cgiss.boisestate.edu
CJ Northrup, Department of Geosciences, (208) 426-1581,
cjnorth@boisestate.edu
Jack Pelton, Graduate College, (208) 426-4203
Media Contact: Janelle Brown, University Communications (208)
426-1790, jbrown2@boisestate.edu
May is “Return to Learn” month at
Boise State University. “Return to Learn” is a campuswide effort to provide
information for those who may be considering taking classes from the
university and help them learn about the best options for returning to
school and earning a degree. For more information call (208) 562-3127 or
click returntolearn.boisestate.edu.
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email communications@boisestate.edu
Last reviewed on Wednesday, January 03, 2007