Illinois State Geological Survey

Subsurface Characterization and Infrastructure Development For CarbonSAFE Illinois Storage Corridor
Primary Contact: Ashley Douds


Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM)

Water Educational Mobile Unit Planning
To build partnerships throughout the state of Indiana that would support the development of the Water Quality On Wheels educational mobile unit, determine the practicality and feasibility of such a unit, and develop a unified educational program centered around water quality and actions for improvement.
Primary Contact: Ginger Davis


Indiana University

1:500,000 scale earthquake epicenter and fault map
This project will research and verify earthquake data points for epicenters occurring in Indiana since 1800 with moment magnitudes greater than or equal to 3.0.
Primary Contact: Polly Sturgeon
2024 Learning Lab
Project improvements will increase the accessibility of the Learning Lab and offer more opportunities for intergenerational learning.
Primary Contact: Polly Sturgeon
2025 IGWS calendar
The 2025 calendar will focus on geologic mapping and geohazards, which will coordinate with the 2025 lobby exhibit on cartography.
Primary Contact: Polly Sturgeon
Acquisition of an X-ray Diffraction System to Enhance Research Capabilities in Mineralogical Studies at the Indiana Geological and Water Survey
The objective of this project is to acquire an X-ray diffraction system for mineralogical analysis at the IGWS.
Primary Contact: Bei Liu
Boy Scouts Indiana Camp Maumee Mapping/Teaching Aid Project
1. Produce a 1:24,000 bedrock map 2. Acquire additional data points that would be used for this project as well as for StateMap Bloomington quad project. 3. Identify a potential drill site location for StateMap
Primary Contact: Don Tripp
Continuation of water quality monitoring of Mississippian Aquifer springs and addition of new springs to IGWS online database
Collect field chemistry data, flow estimates, water samples for lab analyses for all springs to be sampled. Data to be entered into online springs database for all sites, and the NGWMN for 21 sites designated for that organization's national database. Will plan on revisiting the sites requiring new nitrate data that are in the Mitchell Plateau for this year, approximately 35-40 of the springs requiring resampling.
Primary Contact: Tracy Branam
Curatorship student exhibit
Primary Contact: Polly Sturgeon
Digitization of Lithologic Strip Collection and Entry into the Digital Asset Management System
- Digitize existing Lithologic Strips - Prepare and upload image files - Enter the relevant location and project information in the metadata
Primary Contact: Kristen Wilkins
E-GeoNews 2024
E-GeoNews, the newsletter of the Indiana Geological and Water Survey, exists to inform people about the work and accomplishments of the Survey. It also announces events that are of interest to people interested in geology.
Primary Contact: Sara Clifford
FY25 outreach print materials
This project will create a set of unified printed materials that can be used for outreach events and stakeholder meetings. The materials will be promote the services and mission of the IGWS to a statewide audience.
Primary Contact: Polly Sturgeon
FY25 Traveling Discovery Trunks
This project will update materials in existing Discovery Trunks and oversee educator loans.
Primary Contact: Polly Sturgeon
Geochemical exploration for Borden Group brine seeps
This project will explore for the existence of salt seeps in the Borden Formation of Brown and Lawrence counties, and analyze samples of high conductivity stream or seep water to determine the composition and concentration of major chemical components and trace components of lithium and bromide in an attempt to determine if the component composition and ratios match that of the historic mineral springs of the French Lick area of Orange County.
Primary Contact: Tracy Branam
GeoNotes 2023-2024
Primary Contact: Polly Sturgeon
Hoosier National Forest Landslide Mapping
Primary Contact: Victoria Leffel
IGWS Collections Management
Short-Term - fulfill CAP goal of creating an item-level inventory of all materials by ingesting existing catalogs into the new CARST management system and conducting new inventories and assessments to identify missed materials; - continue to document and address ongoing issues resulting from the moves to and from temporary housing locations - continue assessing and defining unaddressed housing issues and needs Medium-term - identify and clearly differentiate between known donated collections, collections generated through in-house work/fieldwork, and loaned materials - research and resolve any identified provenance and usage questions or concerns, especially those related to historic "found-in-collection" materials - identify and prioritize paper materials for archival digitization - assign or resolve DOI and IGSN (igsn.org) registrations for appropriate materials through IU Libraries and System for Earth Sample Registration (SESAR) - transfer or expunge materials not appropriate for reference library, Records Center, in-house archive, specimen repository, education collection, or outreach giveaway activities ---this includes identification of materials appropriate for inclusion in IU Archives Long-term - increase accessibility to materials - mitigate future loss or disassociation of materials - create appropriate archival environment for housing materials in perpetuity
Primary Contact: Jennifer Lanman
Indiana Geological Survey Geologic Names Information System
The database facilitates labeling stratigraphic and structural features data in IGWS digital and paper archives, aids IGWS researchers in locating current geologic nomenclature for their publications, and provides web-based access to IGWS geologic nomenclature to a broad spectrum of users from academia, industry, government, and the general public.
Primary Contact: Nancy Hasenmueller
Indiana Journal of Earth Sciences - Volume 6
Primary Contact: Sara Clifford
IWBN for Eclipse Monitoring
Update the stations to take faster measurements during the time leading upto and through the eclipse on April 8, 2024. Update the website to showcase the IWBN station information better and give it front page billing during the eclipse.
Primary Contact: Ginger Davis
Lake Maxinkuckee & Bass Lake
Provide initial guidance as to what monitoring, data collection, and analysis would need to be conducted to determine the state of groundwater resources in the area.
Primary Contact: Ginger Davis
Madison-West Bedrock Mapping
Update, compile, review, and interpret available literature, maps, and unpublished data concerning bedrock geology in the western half of the Madison 100k quadrangle. Create a uniform geo-database of the western portion of the Madison 100k quadrangle map.
Primary Contact: Victoria Leffel
Map of the Mississippian-Pennsylvanian Unconformity in Indiana
Working maps (circa 1980s) of the Mississippian-Pennsylvanian unconformity have been scanned for Clay, Daviess, Dubois, Greene, Knox, Martin, Owen, Pike, Sullivan, and Vigo counties. Many of these maps were approved by Stan Keller. We will search inventory in Marching 100 for additional maps. Data and contours from these maps, as well as the new field data, will be incorporated into a new ArcGIS Pro layer.
Primary Contact: Kilauren Driscoll
Marketing efforts
To increase the visibility of IGWS activities, resources, and research statewide.
Primary Contact: Sara Clifford
PDMS Maintenance
The long-term goal is to populate the PDMS with current and historical data for petroleum wells and fields in Indiana.
Primary Contact: Valerie Beckham-Feller
Quaternary Laboratory Activities
Continue laboratory activities in support of research for Quaternary group at IGWS
Primary Contact: Jose Luis Antinao
Roxana Loess Chronology and Provenance
This project will determine the provenance and chronology of deposition of Roxana Loess prior to the last glacial maximum in west-central Indiana.
Primary Contact: Henry Loope
Solid Biomass Energy
1) Create/improve the method of petrographic quality assessment for wider range of solid biomass products (including intermediate crops, crop by-products, grass, and other agricultural waste). 2) Expand our research expertise into growing biomass technologies like gasification (holzgas), torrefaction (biomass suitable for co-firing in coal-fired power plants), and anaerobic digestion (production of a methane-rich biogas from wet biomass sources). 3) Investigate relationships between raw fuel composition and the properties of their combustion and gasification emissions with a focus on parameters that could be used to predict the environmental and health impacts of fuel use. 4) Promote the idea of including petrographic analysis in solid biomass quality assurance testing and product certification with manuscripts, and presentations. 5) Expand collaboration with international universities and industry. 6) Create an "umbrella" center.
Primary Contact: Maria Mastalerz
South Central Indiana Tromino Data Point Collection
The objective of this project would be to have Tromino data point coverage along transects that cross river valleys as well as locations that have minimal or questionable bedrock surface data.
Primary Contact: Don Tripp
Stratigraphy and chronology of the Pleistocene Glacial Lake Patoka, south central Indiana
The goal of this study is to combine existing stratigraphic, mineralogic and geophysical data and current interpretations by Dr. Gray, to new datasets to be produced during the study (from shallow coring, geochronology, passive seismic data) in order to develop a litho- and chronostratigraphic framework of the GLP area.
Primary Contact: Jose Luis Antinao
Stratigraphy and maturity of the New Albany Shale–new insights from recently acquired and archived cores
Primary Contact: Nancy Hasenmueller
TM01 Updated - Charles Deam Wilderness Map
Continue to provide cartographic and detailed topographic trail map for the Charles Deam Wilderness and surrounding areas.
Primary Contact: Matthew Johnson
TM04 & TM05 Updates and Reprint
Continue to provide cartographic and detailed topographic trail map for the Morgan-Monroe SF, Yellowwood SF, Ravina Woods SF, Mountain Tea SF, and Brown County State Park
Primary Contact: Matthew Johnson


Synoptic Data PBC d.b.a The National Mesonet Program

National Mesonet Program
Primary Contact: Ginger Davis


U.S. Department of Energy

Mitchell CarbonSAFE
Primary Contact: Valerie Beckham-Feller
Regional Initiative to Accelerate CCUS Development Deployment in Midwestern and Northeastern USA
The objective of this study is to identify and address key technical challenges that are current impediments or areas of concern preventing the establishment of CCUS in the study region. The project is separated into four tasks: addressing key technical challenges; facilitating data collection, sharing, and analysis; evaluating regional infrastructure; and promoting regional technology transfer.
Primary Contact: Ashley Douds
Statewide Subsurface Energy Project
The goal of this project is to develop products that help stakeholders and decision-makers, from communities to government and industry, identify areas that satisfy the technical requirements for geological sequestration and the community needs within those areas.
Primary Contact: Ashley Douds


U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)

2023 NGGDPP: IGWS FAIR Data Initiative 2023-2024 - Legacy Research Access and Public Outreach
Part A – purchase new flat file cabinets and archival cardboard, then inventory, scan, transcribe, catalog, and rehouse 350 legacy maps and 60 field notebooks; Part B – scan 4,400 gamma logs and transcribe interpreted data; and Part C – photograph and catalog 2,000 specimens from the Education Collection.
Primary Contact: Jennifer Lanman
2024 NGGDDP (Data Preservation)
Update the Indiana National Coal Resource Data System (NCRDS), pair data with physical logs, and provide stratigraphic data to the National Index of Borehole Information (NIBI). Complete the unconsolidated borehole database work from the 2023 Data Preservation award and provide unconsolidated lithologies to the NIBI. Convert borehole wireline logs into a digital format usable in geological software and provide this data set through the new borehole system developed. Redevelop a borehole database that has not been updated fully in the past 10 years. Obtain critical mineral analysis on a select number of cores from a meteor impact crater.
Primary Contact: Matthew Johnson
Critical minerals in Devonian metalliferous black shales of the Illinois Basin
The overall objective of this study is to collect new geochemical data on critical mineral (CM) concentrations of Devonian black shales. Understanding spatial and stratigraphic variations in CM will help evaluate these rocks as potential sources of various metals. These data also will help to better understand the ore mineralizing system models by documenting geochemical gradients, sedimentology, and characteristics of black shale-enclosing strata.
Primary Contact: Maria Mastalerz
Critical Minerals in Pennsylvanian Black Shales in Indiana
The objective of this project is to expand our database on critical elements in the Pennsylvanian black shales
Primary Contact: Maria Mastalerz
IGWS Collections Management
Short-Term - fulfill CAP goal of creating an item-level inventory of all materials by ingesting existing catalogs into the new CARST management system and conducting new inventories and assessments to identify missed materials; - continue to document and address ongoing issues resulting from the moves to and from temporary housing locations - continue assessing and defining unaddressed housing issues and needs Medium-term - identify and clearly differentiate between known donated collections, collections generated through in-house work/fieldwork, and loaned materials - research and resolve any identified provenance and usage questions or concerns, especially those related to historic "found-in-collection" materials - identify and prioritize paper materials for archival digitization - assign or resolve DOI and IGSN (igsn.org) registrations for appropriate materials through IU Libraries and System for Earth Sample Registration (SESAR) - transfer or expunge materials not appropriate for reference library, Records Center, in-house archive, specimen repository, education collection, or outreach giveaway activities ---this includes identification of materials appropriate for inclusion in IU Archives Long-term - increase accessibility to materials - mitigate future loss or disassociation of materials - create appropriate archival environment for housing materials in perpetuity
Primary Contact: Jennifer Lanman
NGWMN 2022-2024
Primary Contact: Ginger Davis
NGWMN FY23
The objectives of this project are to install two new monitoring wells and refurbish a previously built well.
Primary Contact: Ginger Davis
Northern Indiana Quaternary cross sections
The objective of this project is to provide subsurface geologic data and correlation of glacial sediments needed for water resource management, land-use planning, and infrastructure projects. The project will obtain new borehole data in addition to compiling existing subsurface information, including downhole geophysical data (gamma-ray logs), water well logs, and archived borehole information, for all of northernmost Indiana.
Primary Contact: Henry Loope
StateMap 2022 Program
Create new maps that include: 1) Quaternary mapping of the Bloomington 100k quadrangle 2) Bedrock mapping of the Jasper and Indiana portion of Tell City 100k quadrangle maps 3) Bedrock mapping of the Princeton and Indiana portions of adjacent 100k quadrangle maps Data updates: 1) Updated NGMDB entries with new URLs, citations, etc. Stratigraphy: 1)Formalizing a Late Pleistocene stratigraphy for northern Indiana
Primary Contact: Matthew Johnson
StateMap 2023 Program
Primary Contact: Matthew Johnson