six new faculty members join college of geosciencesapr 30 2015a professor two tenure-track assistant professors a visiting lecturer and two visiting assistant professors joined the college of geosciences this academic year atmospheric sciences dr timothy logan is a visiting lecturer his phd and ms are from the university of north dakota in atmospheric sciences with a concentration in atmospheric chemistry he received his bachelors degree from the university of virginia in environmental science with a concentration in geochemistry dr logan was most recently a graduate research assistant at the university of north dakota and a participant in the nsf east asian pacific summer institute he has also been a science teacher in public schools in new jersey geology and geophysics dr hiroko kitajima is an assistant professor who received a bs in science from kyoto university japan and a phd in geology from texas a&m university she carried out postdoctoral research at pennsylvania state university and worked for the geological survey of japan as a research scientist dr kitajimas research interests are the interaction of mechanical thermal chemical and fluid flow processes during deformation of sediments and rocks with the aim of better understanding and modeling a wide range of geological problems current research focuses on deformation processes of sediments and rocks under complicated loading conditions associated with earthquakes and faulting in active plate boundaries dr julia reece is an assistant professor whose research focuses on understanding the mechanics and flow properties of mud rocks she is particularly interested in marine sediments and subsurface fluid flow additionally she studies transport behavior and diagenesis in shale-gas reservoir rocks dr reece has held post-doctoral positions at the bureau of economic geology at the university of texas and most recently at stanford university she received her phd from the jackson school university of texas and her undergraduate and masters degrees in geosciences from the university of bremen germany geography dr keith gaddis is a visiting assistant professor his bachelors degree is in biology in environmental science from the university of iowa and his doctorate is from ucla between his undergraduate and graduate coursework dr gaddis served in the peace corps in mauritania teaching and coordinating environmental education programs and girls mentoring centers throughout the country dr gaddis works on a range of topics integrating ecological genetic and geographic tools to trace the effects of climate environment and landscape on the contemporary and historic movement patterns in plant and animal species dr adam naito is a visiting assistant professor his master and bachelors degrees are from penn state and his phd is from texas a&m all in geography his areas of specialization are biogeography landscape ecology ecological modeling and gis applications in environmental science and remote sensing oceanography dr gerardo gold bouchot came to texas a&m as a professor a position he held at the center for research and advanced studies merida mexico he is recognized internationally for his research on environmental levels of pollutants in marine and coastal ecosystems he studies the use and validation of biomarkers of various species from the molecular to community levels he has broad expertise and experience related to research on oil in the sea a continuing issue of concern to the gulf of mexico and texas dr gold bouchot has published 53 papers in international peer-reviewed journals and 10 book chapters and edited two books dr gold bouchot is also involved in coastal management issues and programs including the development of the gulf of mexico large marine ecosystem project