Dr. Wendy Nelson Moves to Towson University
Will Establish a New Laboratory for Isotope Geochemistry

In September, Dr. Wendy Nelson, research assistant professor in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, became an assistant professor on the tenure track at Towson University in Maryland.

Nelson came to the University of Houston in 2009 from the Carnegie Institution of Washington, located in the District of Columbia. As a postdoctoral scholar, she participated in a research expedition on the Japanese research vessel Yokosuka and was able to dive in the research submersible Shinkai 6500 to the ocean floor at a depth of 5,000 meters (16,400 feet). On the ocean floor, she collected rock samples used in her research at UH. Nelson was invited to join the EAS faculty as a research assistant professor in 2013.

Nelson is well-known in the geologic community for her work on the chemistry of the volcanoes of the East African rift system and was a recent participant in ocean drilling off the coast of Japan, as one of the U.S. scientists in International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 352.

In addition to her scientific accomplishments, she taught courses as part of the EAS faculty, was co-director of the Geoscience Learning Center, and managed the schedules and assignments of teaching assistants in the EAS department.

At Towson University, Nelson is pleased to be establishing a new laboratory for isotope geochemistry.