Dr. William Johnson, Professor of Geology at the University of Kansas, Michelle Payton ’12 and Giuliani Lopez ’11, environmental studies majors at Trinity, analyze the magnetic properties of soils at the Konza Prairie, a long-term ecological research station in central Kansas.  The priority of their research is to strengthen the understanding of the processes that affect the magnetic (and non-magnetic) properties of modern and buried soils, which is an important step in using soils as reliable recorders of past climate.  The team analyzes the magnetic properties of soils that have experienced a range of prescribed burns for more than 20 years in order to quantify the effect of prairie-fires on soils.

Konza Prairie is located in the Flint Hills of Kansas, a plateau dissected by small streams,
creating a landscape characterized by broad, flat-topped ridges. 
Photos by Christoph Geiss, Associate Professor of Physics and Environmental Science at Trinity