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Student Spotlights

Alex Brettmann

Alex Brettmann - 2nd Year Geology MS Student 

Faculty: Cari Johnson 

 Get to know Alex:

  • "I spent the Summer working on exploration geology for Chevron’s New Energies division, on their geothermal team for 12 weeks.
  • I thought I would go to college for jazz trombone or orchestral tuba, not a STEM-related field.
  • I worked in geothermal exploration in the Great Basin before starting grad school here and amassed over 100 field days and nights in a couple of years.
  • I love getting in over my head in long-distance runs and bike rides across the West.
  • I think the best parts of Utah remain West of the Wasatch, not east: hot take.”

  • Stone-Hollberg Scholarship, awarded by the RMAG Foundation for his research focus on “Structural Controls on Basin Evolution and Geothermal Systems in the Black Rock Desert, Utah”.
  • GSA Lauren A. Wright & Bennie W. Troxel Student Research Awards
  • SPE (Society for Petroleum Engineers) Geothermal Section GTTS Student Scholarship for 2025-2026
  • A scholarship from the Structural and Tectonics Division of GSA.

 

Kiri Maza

Kiri Maza - 2nd Year PhD Student

Advisor: Chad Ostrander

 Get to know Kiri:

  • Research - The relationship between oxygen and the rise of animals is pertinent to both current and future life on Earth, and Kiri’s project aims to provide insight into understanding the environments in which some of Earth’s earliest animals emerged. In the lab, she reconstructs Cambrian seawater chemistry for information on global-scale ocean change during the rise of animals.
  • Fun Fact - “I spent three months living out of a tent in the Australian Outback for fieldwork”
  • Fun Fact - “I play the French horn and spent my life before college training to be a classical musician”

 

  • G&G Department Chapman Fund Award
  • GSA Continental Scientific Drilling Division Research Grant
  • EDGES Fellowship
  • Williamson Fellowship
  • Society for Sedimentary Geology Travel Grant Award

 

Harrison Patton Harrison Patton - Geoscience Senior

Meet Harrison Patton, a geoscience senior and map enthusiast in the Department of Geology and Geophysics.  Harrison's passion for maps is what first drew him to geology, and it has led him to create 3D topography prints, secure a unique internship with the Utah Geological Survey, and build a promising future in the field.

 Read more about Harrison's life as a student and his plans after graduation below. 

 

 

 

By taking publicly available digital elevation models and turning them into 3D prints, Harrison creates geological art that brings his passion to life. Once the topography models are printed, he uses acrylic paint to highlight how the landscape's surface reflects the structure of the underlying bedrock. You can see these prints in person at the Earth Art Exhibition hosted by Energy Club in the FASB Confluence on Wednesday, November 19th.

Over the summer, Harrison took his passion to the field with a mapping internship at the Utah Geological Survey (UGS). His project focused on Dromedary Peak Quadrangle in the Wasatch Range, a high-interest area that hasn't had a published map since 1965. As one of the most rugged parts of the Wasatch, it has presented a significant mapping challenge.
 
Working under Senior Geologist Zach Anderson, Harrison appreciated the opportunity to watch and learn professional mapping techniques firsthand. The project remains ongoing at UGS.
 
Harrison also received his own project: measuring a complicated series of folds in the Cambrian quartzite near Alta, where the rock is heavily deformed. He took orientation measurements to understand the folds and the tectonic forces from multiple overlapping events. He is hoping to be a co-author on the resulting map alongside Lauren Reeher, a project geologist with UGS, and an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Geology and Geophysics.

Harrison is currently working with Professor Juan Carlos de Obeso on mantle rocks from Baja California, Mexico. His work includes preparing thin sections and conducting electron microprobe analysis, and he is using this project as the basis for his undergraduate thesis. Last year, he presented this research at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) conference in Washington, D.C.
 
In February, Harrison was the only undergraduate to attend the UCLA SIMS (Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry) course—a prestigious opportunity that highlights his dedication and skill in geochemistry.

After graduation, Harrison plans to pursue a master's degree in geology with the goal of building a career in geological mapping.

Harrison is a non-traditional student who originally started college in 2015 as a chemistry major and returned in spring 2023 to pursue geology. His father-in-law, a geologist himself, helped inspire his return to school.
 
When he's not mapping or conducting research, Harrison enjoys climbing—particularly searching for new, unclimbed boulders. "Climbing and geology are a great pair," he says. He lives with his wife, Maya, who is pursuing a master's degree in biomedical informatics at the U, and their dog, Shadow.

During his time at the U, Harrison has received several awards and scholarships:
 
Madison WardBrierton Sharp

Madison Ward and Brierton Sharp - Geophysics PhD Students

Advisors: Fan-Chi Lin & Jamie Farrell

Meet Brierton Sharp and Madison Ward, who are new Geophysics PhD students working with Fan Chi-Lin and Jamie Farrell. They recently completed a seismic experiment together in Hawaii. 

 

 

 

They are using ambient noise to image the groundwater subsurface below active Hawaiian volcanoes (such as Mauna Loa & Kīlauea).Ward says the goal is to “understand the magmatic system of these volcanoes in order to observe how magma is stored and transported in between eruptions.” 

For Sharp, his research also uses ambient noise to image the subsurface, but in Northern California. “We want to do this to understand which areas will sustain the most shaking during an earthquake which will help know which areas have the highest seismic risk.”

  • Loves rock climbing
  • Traveled to 30+ countries
  • Received a B.S. Geology at Clemson University, and an MSc in Geophysics at University of Aberdeen.
  • Publication: Pullen, A., Barbeau, D.L., Leier, A.L., Abell, J.T., Ward, M., Bruner, A., Fidler, M.K., 2022. A westerly wind dominated Puna Plateau during deposition of upper Pleistocene loessic sediments in the subtropical Andes, South America. Nat. Commun. 2022 131 13, 1–8. doi:10.1038/s41467-022-31118-5 

  • Grew up in Hawaii
  • Has two little boys (2 years, and 8 months old)
  • Publication: Harris, R. A., Meservy, W., Sulaeman, H., Bunds, M., Andreini, J., Sharp, B., Barrett, B., Whitehead, J., Carver, G., Setiadi, G., Hapsoro, S., & Prasetyadi, C. (2023). Imbricated Beachrock Deposits Adjacent to the Java Trench, Indonesia: Influence of Tsunami and Storm Waves. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2720366/v1
  • Presentation: Sharp, B. (2025, April). Are Empirical Models Adequate for Risk Estimation. [Conference presentation]. Seismological Society of America Annual Meeting, Baltimore, MD.
Last Updated: 11/19/25