Piper Lewis ’12 uses words like 'glorious' and 'beautiful' when she talks about dirt.

Specifically, she is describing the high-resolution mineralogical characterization patterns of soil and sediment samples from a research site in Croatia. Lewis and fellow geology major Sam Fordyce did summer research analyzing soil profiles and Lewis is continuing the research this semester as an independent study. She and Fordyce just returned from presenting at the 2011 Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America on October 9-10 in Minneapolis.

The Croatian site, known as the Pokrovnik site, is part of a continuing interdisciplinary investigation called the Early Farming in Dalmatia Project (EFDP), which aims to answer questions about the transition from foraging to farming and the impact farming had in the region.

“This is the earliest agricultural region in Europe,” says Cynthia Fadem, a geoarcheologist and assistant professor of geology. “Croatia was the conduit of agricultural technology into Europe. All the tools, animals and plants came to Europe through Croatia.”

During the summer research, Lewis and Fordyce analyzed soil samples by grinding them to a fine powder and sending them through an x-ray diffractometer (XRD) machine that characterizes the soil’s mineral contents.

I love the idea of being in a lab, and I am learning a lot about lab technology and how to work in a lab. This is important experience for a future career in science.
—Piper Lewis 

“The XRD and corresponding software give you the options for the mineral components of the soil, but you have to determine the most logical choice,” Lewis says. “Our findings tell us that there was probably a volcanic influence that caused the soil to be deeper, more fertile and better-suited for agriculture. We found montmorillonite and muscovite, which are indications of ash.”

The resulting soils at the early-middle Neolithic Pokrovnik site were deeper, richer, better developed and more fertile than the other regional off-site soils that were tested. 

Fadem, who has been working on the EFDP since 2005, says she was surprised by the amount of work that Lewis and Fordyce completed in two weeks.

“They got a lot of practical lab experience using analytical equipment, and they advanced enough to complete about 100 samples,” Fadem says. “They did more than I ever hoped.”

Lewis says she was excited for the opportunity to continue her work this semester.

“I am analyzing bedrock clasts and samples from the site to compare the chemical signature of the bedrock, soil clasts and soil itself,” she says. “I love the idea of being in a lab, and I am learning a lot about lab technology and how to work in a lab. This is important experience for a future career in science.”

Lewis, who will take at least a year off from school to help her determine an area of focus, says she plans to enroll in graduate school.

 “Earlham students desire to be prepared when they enter the work force or graduate school,” Fadem says. “They learn critical thinking and laboratory skills, which are both indispensible and invaluable for graduates.”

Fadem says graduate level faculty often approach her to request that she send her students to them.

“Earlham geology has a high rate of success for placing majors in graduate school,” she says. “Earlham grads are highly desirable.”

—EC—

In addition to her geology studies, Lewis is currently the College's senior-most "Life at Earlham" blogger. You can read Piper's posts or check out a video introduction.

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