Rebecca Matecha
Assistant Professor of Geology
Dr. Matecha is a passionate educator and mentor with a focus on hands-on and applied learning opportunities for students. They are an aqueous geochemist with particular interest in environmental impacts of the fossil fuel industry and the formation of Appalachian Basin shales. They also are heavily involved in outreach aimed at exposing young girls to STEM fields and female mentors. In their spare time, they foster kittens, volunteer at an animal rescue, wander the woods looking for cool rocks, play the cello, and dabble in pottery and painting. They are happy to have visitors to their office and always have a geology-related puzzle in progress for guests to work on.
About Dr. Matecha
- B.A. in Geoscience from Smith College, 2018
- Ph.D. in Geoscience from the University of Pittsburgh, 2023
- GEOL 100/102: Dynamic Earth and Lab
- GEOL 105: Geology of the National Parks
- GEOL 211/212: Earth Materials and Lab
- GEOL 288: Energy and Environmental Justice
- GEOL 302/303: Hydrogeology and Lab
- GEOL 410: Professionalism in Geology
- GEOL 455: Field Methods in Geology
- GEOL 490: Senior Thesis
- TBD: Aqueous Geochemistry
- Matecha, R. M., Xiong, W., Heck, W. F., Stewart, B. W., Capo, R. C., Hakala, J. A. (2022). Experimental Investigation of Barium Sources and Fluid-Rock Interaction in Unconventional Marcellus Shale Wells Using Ba Isotopes. Energy and Fuels. 36 (8).
- Matecha, R. M., Capo, R. C., Stewart, B. W., Thompson, R. L., Hakala, J. A. (2021). A single column separation method for barium isotope analysis of geologic and hydrologic materials with complex matrices. Geochemical Transactions. 22 (4).