Advisor: Allan Ashworth, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor, Department of Geosciences, North Dakota State University

Degree Progress: Masters in Environmental & Conservation Science expected Summer 2008

Office: Stevens Hall 132A

Email: Jessie.Rock@ndsu.edu

Thesis:

Jessie studies the paleoecology of Lake Agassiz in relation to paleoclimate and works on the deposits of a low water phase of the lake. These deposits contain aquatic and terrestrial fossils from environments within and around the lake. As she is dealing with the most recent geologic period, the Quaternary, she uses ecologic information from living species to help interpret the past - “The present is the key to the past”. Therefore, the fossil beetles, plants and mollusks species, once identified, will help her make interpretations about paleoclimate.