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Filley

Tim Filley
Associate Professor
filley@purdue.edu

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Dept of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences
Purdue University
550 Stadium Mall Drive
West Lafayette, IN 47907
ph. (765) 494-6581

Courses at Purdue

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Astrobiology-2010:
This lecture/seminar course will explore some of the current leading-edge problems in Planetary Science. Each class will require students to read one or two short papers or extended abstracts before the class meeting. During class the topic will be introduced by a lecture of approximately 25 minutes, followed by general class discussion. The topics and lecture presentation are intended to both introduce the topic and to point out the major scientific problems that the Planetary Science community is attempting to address.
[syllabus-Class Description-2010]

Soil Biogeochemistry-2011:
This is an interdisciplinary graduate-level or senior undergraduate level course. This course will provide an introduction to the physical and microbial processes governing the cycling of photosynthetically-produced organic matter on land and in streams and rivers. Organic geochemical transformations in the soil and litter will be highlighted along with methods of characterization of the organic constituents. Biogeochemical concepts of stabilization and destabilization of soil organic matter and stress response of terrestrial ecosystems will be reinforced through manipulation of actual data sets.
[syllabus-Class Description-2011]

The Dynamic Earth-2010:
This course covers the formation and development of the solid earth, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and bio-sphere. The course studies the whole earth as a system of many interacting parts and focuses on the changes within and between these parts. This course is intended for all majors in earth and atmospheric sciences. Earth and Atmospheric Sciences majors are expected to take the accompanying laboratory which uses STELLA modeling exercises to help illustrate fundamental Earth science principles.
[syllabus-Class Description-2011]

Field-Based Learning

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Mentoring Native American Students for Success in Geoscience Graduate Programs, funded by the National Science Foundation, GEMScholars
This work is a collaborative effort between Purdue University, Bemidji State University, and Red Lake and Leech Lake Tribal Colleges. This grant funded 8-12 Native American tribal college students each year in Earth Science related activities centered on sustainable forestry and soil issues on Red Lake Nation lands. Culturally relevant topics such as the impacts of invasive species were highlighted. Students presented their work to local middle school students, at the tribal colleges, and at an annual symposium held at Purdue University. One of the goals of the grant was to help guide students tribal college students interested in the STEM disciplines into a science related field at Bemidji State University after the completion of their 2-year tribal college degree. At that point the students would be encouraged to pursue graduate work in the Earth Sciences or a related field if it was to their liking. The experiments are designed to allow successive cohorts of GEM scholars to build into the accumulating database as well as to allow for completion of short term studies in the allotted 12 week summer period. Both field and laboratory experiments are established. The field and lab experience will be supplemented by classroom instruction to provide the proper scientific context for the tasks the students will perform.

REU Supplement: Investigating the Soil-Earthworm-Litter System Controls on the Stabilization of Organic Matter in Eastern Deciduous Forests
The REU funded three Native American tribal college students to come to Purdue-Filley lab for the summer of 2010. They, Mr. Charlie Thayer, Ms. Nikki Jourdain, and Ms. Annie Johnson worked on research associated with soil biogeochemistry related to invasive earthworms in their forests at Red Lake and at an existing project at the Smithsonian Environmental institute. The students worked on techniques including pyrolysis gas chromatography and FTIR and gained experience in methodologies to process soils. They also participated in a GRE training course and took field trips to Chicago museums. Each of the students was funded to present their research at the American Geophysical Union fall meeting in San Francisco, CA (see abstracts below). Travel funds for students to San Francisco was shared between this REU and the NSF- Mentoring Native American Students for Success in Geoscience Graduate Programs. Nikki continues to work on this grant to processes data collected over the summer.

Recent Presentations with GEMS scholars and REU Students.
Jourdain, J. N.; Filley, T. R.; Top, S. M.; Thayer, C.; Johnson, A.; Jenkins, M.; Welle, P.; Zurn-Birkhimer, S.; Kroeger, T.; Gemscholars. Changes in forest floor composition and chemistry along an invasive earthworm gradient in a hardwood forest American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2010, abstract #B41F-0385

Thayer, C.; Jourdain, J. N.; Filley, T. R.; Top, S. M.; Johnson, A.; Jenkins, M.; Welle, P.; Zurn-Birkhimer, S.; Kroeger, T.; Potential impacts of invasive European earthworms and soil moisture on herbaceous species richness within the Ojibwa Red Lake Reservation. American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2010, abstract #ED21A-066.

S.M. Top, C. Thayer. T.R. Filley. Exotic Earthworm Influence on Nitrogen Cycling in FACE Forest Soils. December 2010. American Geophysical Union (AGU), San Francisco, CA.