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New GeoBiology wiki. A website of Dr. Jennifer Houghton's research projects.

For more information or to obtain a username please contact houghtonj at rhodes.edu

Jennifer Houghton's CV

Active Projects

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Hydrology and biomineralization in hydrothermal deposits

Diagram of the high pressure version of apparatus.

Experimental apparatus to study fluid flow and microbial growth and mineralization in hydrothermal subsurface mixing environments.
- Funding for this work was provided by the National Science Foundation (Marine Geology and Geophysics Division)

Testing apparatus Images and results of experiments and models
Fluid flow numerical model Numerical code and documentation

nickel in air with 2X lens, A320 FLIR camera

nickel in air through Ge window, same camera and lens - notice blue-green where coin does not touch window

water pumping through glass beads with 2X lens, no Ge window

water pumping through glass beads with 2X lens, Ge window resting on top

Work in progress website

A biogeochemical database of seafloor hydrothermal vents

Analysis of microbial diversity at EPR vent sites:
- abstract for EPR Integration Workshop
Analysis of microbial diversity at hydrothermal vents in the eastern Pacific
- abstract for the Chapman conference on Biogeophysics

Tools

Genbank scripts

Scripts to

Download gene sequences from Genbank (based on accession numbers).
Compare sequences for similarity (using bl2seq)
Calculate taxonomic distinctness statistics to assess population diversity (after Clark and Warwick, 1998).
Compute population vs. distinctness funnel to assess relative diversity (after Clark and Warwick, 1998)
Making phylogenetic trees - Charlie Forbes' notes

Markets and Pollution Exercise

Rhodes Projects

Environmental Hydrogeology 2011

Determining and implementing a solution to flooding of a school

Step 1: Study the problem and find the cause of flooding:


			initial sketches of expected runoff on grounds
data points collected for topographic mapping	final topographic map created in GIS; building is in lower left corner	GIS analysis of slopes used to determine runoff directions and catchment areas

Step 2: Solutions tested and recommendations made:

Step 3: Implementing solution:

Friday April 8?

the start	the first trip	outlining the north side	outlining
shirts off	Alan working	the long view	the last island
accomplishment!	warning about flip flops	attempt 1 to move the tarp: too heavy	if there was any doubt about the lack of infiltration...
Maren's art from the yard	the long view again	what we found in the ground	attempt 2 to move the tarp
moving the tarp	still moving the tarp: epic!	having fun: target practice	strong muscles!
poster child for the project	after the next day's rain	after the rain where the south end of garden will be

Saturday April 16: A Great Day!

After the rain on Tuesday night (April 19):

rain garden the morning after a heavy rain	alternate view	middle drain after rainfall: medium use	north drain after rainfall: heavy use
south drain after rainfall: almost no use	evidence of runoff in the middle of the gardens	mallards enjoying a newly made pond on the back lot - we won't be filling it with our dirt after all!

Rain on April 20: Caught In the Act: It Works!

the beginning of the April 20 rain event	roof gutter drain nearest front door, early in rain event	roof gutter drain south end, early in rain event	gutter overflow: why the walls get wet
rain garden early in rain event	rain garden early in rain event	rain garden begins to fill	the river that forms in front of the entrance does not come from the garden or the downhill sidewalk
ground is too saturated from the last rain	the drain by the playground early in rain event	view of the parking lot river draining to north end of building	gravel pile is temporarily preventing parking lot river from partially draining into our rain garden!
the mouth of the parking lot river runs down north sidewalk	crazy Dr. Jen taking pictures - do not try this at home	rain garden ponding later in rain event	rain sheeting off parking lot into rain garden on north side (except dirt pile in the way)
roof gutter drain near front door, at peak of rain event!	rain ponding in garden, middle of rain event	rain ponding in garden, middle of rain event	rain ponding in garden, middle of rain event
rain ponding in garden, middle of rain event	the middle drain works!	the north drain works!	the south drain is still too high
rain sheeting off the sidewalk	sidewalk river later in the rain event	rain sheeting off the sidewalk later	rain ponding on side with no rain garden
alternate view of ponding on side with no rain garden	the ultimate destination of gutter drainage: glad we fixed it!	the long view of the ultimate destination of gutter drainage	ponding after breaking for dinner and coming back - steady rain continued between the peak of the rain event and this time

After the rain: April 25, 2011

the long view of the garden	the river into the north drain	the middle drain also works	clay washing from our piles over our garden - more cleanup!
the puddle initially at the south end - this completely drained away by itself as Mills and I worked that afternoon = this garden has more room in it	the big problem: scouring of our garden by even more runoff now that the gravel pile is gone	our solution here works too! still draining in the morning	partway through emergency regrading with Mills on 4-25-2011
finished regrading - now let's see if it works when it rains tonight!

After the rain: April 26, 2011

the long view of the garden on the morning of April 26, 2011	north drain solution works! (but not enough)	middle drain solution works (needs more gravel)	south drain solution helped a lot!
reformed the same pattern!	where does the gravel erode and where does it deposit?	scouring again - our solution wasn't enough - IDEAS?	NEW PROBLEM - garden overflow goes the wrong way!
closeup of the problem - what will be the solution?	our mini levee was breached!	speaking of levees - here's a natural levee forming

Memphis Research

In the field with Jennifer Whatley, sampling for chlordane and/or mercury

documenting No Fishing signs at the overpass of Raleigh-Millington Rd over the Loosahatchie River	documenting more signs in the same location down at the river banks near a pulloff area	view of the Loosahatchie River near the Raleigh-Millington overpass, looking downstream	Jennifer Whatley in the field at site 1: Raleigh- Millington and Loosahatchie River
groundwater seepage from the bank of the Loosahatchie River at site 1: rust color and water has oily sheen	same groundwater seepage from bank of Loosahatchie River at site 1: showing oily sheen and seepage enters River	extent of groundwater seepage at site 1: Jennifer for scale.	view upstream of site 1 on Loosahatchie River: Raleigh-Millington overpass
view downstream of site 1 on the Loosahatchie River, standing on the bank	the wierd looking spider we disturbed on the way to site 2	view upstream of site 2 on a small tributary of the Loosahatchie - do you remember the name of the road?	view downstream of site 2 on a small tributary of the Loosahatchie
puddle of stagnant water under the overpass at site 2 - this was not sampled?	larger puddle of murky stagnant water under the overpass at site 2 - water sampled here	discharge with oily sheen at edge of sand/gravel bar in small tributary to the Loosahatchie, just upstream of site 2 and just downstream of section of stream that widens and deepens	standing at site 3 on small tributary to Loosahatchie, looking across bank at water snake we startled - snake is climbing up the bank to a hole about 2 feet above the water surface
photo of site 3 and view upstream	trying to get to the Loosahatchie at the Highway 51 overpass. The bank was too steeply downcut to get to the water.	snails happy in a drainage ditch on the side of the road next to the fence of a chemical company on Millington Rd near the intersection with Highway 51. Soil and water samples taken here.	view at site where happy snails were - just outside chemical plant - do you remember the name of the company?
sign on the DuPont fence along Millington Rd - road has been blocked at the railroad tracks so there is no access to the Loosahatchie near the plants.