Faculty
Cinzia Cervato
Associate Professor
Earth Systems Science Education, Geoarchaeology, Biostratigraphy,
Stable Isotope Geochemistry, Data Management
224 Science I
Dept. of Geological and Atmospheric Sciences
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011
Phone: (515) 294-7583
Email: cinzia@iastate.edu
Education
M.S. (Dr. Geology, Summa Cum Laude) University of Padua, Italy, 1984
Ph.D. (Dr. Sc. Nat. with Distinction) in Geology, ETH - Swiss Federal
Institute of Technology, 1990
P.D. (Privatdozent) in Stratigraphy, ETH - Swiss Federal Institute
of Technology, 1999
Research Interests
My research interests lie in Earth Systems Science education, data
management, geoarcheology, the evolution of marine plankton, stable
isotope geochemistry, geochronology, biostratigraphy and carbonate
sedimentology.
My Earth Systems Science education research focuses on learning and
on the application of modern multimedia technology to enhance learning
in large introductory classes. My primary goal is to investigate better
means by which to educate students to become familiar with science
and its fundamental role in our society. I have worked on the implementation
and development of virtual reality and web-based learning activities
with funding from the National Science Foundation.
I have applied my interest in computers, logic and organization to
the design of relational databases for the storage, retrieval and
correlation of large amount of data. The two main databases that I
worked on are Neptune and NORGES. Presently, I am the Executive Director
of the multi-institutional research project CHRONOS (www.chronos.org),
funded by the National Science Foundation.
I have worked in the Alps, Himalayas, Philippines, and with deep-sea
cores from most oceans. I am interested in how environmental changes
have affected the evolution of organisms and in the interaction of
humans with the environment in past and present times. My most recent
research of this involves the reconstruction of climate patterns in
the Mediterranean at the time when humans first adopted sedentary
farming practices (around 11,000 years ago). My collaborators for
this project are Dr.
Ofer Bar-Yosef (Harvard University and Dr. William B.F. Ryan (Columbia
University).
During my brief career in the oil industry, I worked in Norway on
hydrocarbon reservoirs in the North Sea and Norwegian Sea as well
as carbonate reservoirs in Libya and Iran.
Teaching Program
Geology 100 - The Earth. Two sections, fall semester. What
is the earth made of, and how does it work? Emphasis on observations
and hypotheses used by geologists to determine the earth's structure
and to understand how geologic features change with time. Notes and
web-based assignments are available on the course home page on WebCT,
accessible only to students enrolled in the class.
Fall 2006
Section A
Fall 2006
Section B
Meteorology 206 (also listed as Agronomy 206) - Introduction
to Meteorology. This is a computer-based course that emphasizes weather
forecasting and group activities. The grading in this class has been
weighted to reflect my perceptions of the most important outcomes
in this course: group activities (in class and as homework) count
for more than 70% of the grade and include computer simulations unique
to this course and daily weather forecasting. Students learn to think
like a meteorologist and have the opportunity to do what meteorologists
do. This includes collecting and interpreting data and forecasting.
Students are given opportunities to learn how to solve problems and
to gain a better understanding of our physical world. The problems
we use are realistic and students find out that they may have more
than one right answer. This approach is intended to serve them in
many life situations. Notes and assignments are available on WebCT
and ClassNet only to students enrolled in the class.
Recent Selected Refeered Publications
Fils, D., Cervato, C., and Diver, P. (2008). CHRONOS Architecture: Experiences with an Open Source Services Oriented Architecture for Geoinformatics. Computers & Geosciences. In press.
Cervato, C., Rudd, J. and Wang, V.Z. (2007). Diagnostic testing of Introductory Geology students. Journal of Geoscience Education, 55 (5), 357-363.
Gallus, W.A., Cervato, C., Cruz-Neira, C., and Faidley, G. (2006). A virtual tornadic thunderstorm enabling students to construct knowledge about storm dynamics through data collection and analysis. Advances in Geosciences, 8, 27-32.
Sikora, P., Ogg, J.G., Gary, A., Cervato, C., Gradstein, F., Huber,
B.T., Marshall, C., Stein, J.A., and Wardlaw, B. (2006). An Integrated
Chronostratigraphic Data System for the 21st Century. Geological
Society of America Special Paper 397, 53-61.
Klump, J., Huber, R., Cervato, C., and Snyder, W.S., 2005. iGEOINFO.org
– International Collaboration in GeoInformatics. EOS, 86, 27.
Cervato, C., Snyder, W.S., Fils, D., et al. (2005). The CHRONOS System:
geoinformatics for sedimentary geology and paleobiology. IEEE
Data Interoperability proceedings volume, 182-186, PDF
Gallus, W.A., Cervato, C., Cruz-Neira, C., Faidley, G., and Heer,
R. (2005). Learning storm dynamics with a virtual thunderstorm. Bull.
Amer. Met. Society, Feb 2005, 164-165.
Additional
publications
Graduate Students
Joan Jach (MS Geology and Education, 2004)
Bjorn G. Brooks (PhD candidate Geology, Cambrian
stratigraphy)
Cammy Bright (PhD candidate Geology, late Quaternary
climate in the Mediterranean)
Joshua A. Reed (MS candidate Human Computer Interaction,
core-logging tools for Antarctic drilling)
Rachel Banasiak (MS candidate Geology, late Quaternary
climate in the Mediterranean)
