Sherrod to Host Chambliss Faculty Lecture Oct. 25

KUTZTOWN, Pa. – Kutztown University’s Dr. Laura Sherrod, professor of Physical Sciences, will present her lecture entitled, “When Science and History Converge: The Search for a Lost Revolutionary War Mass Burial” during the university’s annual Chambliss Faculty Lecture 4:30 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 25, 183 McFarland Student Union. The lecture will also be available on Zoom.

Sherrod is a geology professor and has been at KU since 2009. She earned her Doctorate in Geology with an emphasis in geophysics and hydrogeology from Western Michigan University. She also completed her Bachelor of Geology with minors in Spanish, physics and mathematics from Western Michigan.

Sherrod regularly teaches five different courses, including Introduction to Geology, Water Wars, Physical Geology, General Geophysics and Hydrogeology, which often leads to her and her students being waist-deep in creeks with rubber-hip waders. Sherrod is extremely devoted to giving her students the best education possible and has successfully obtained a handful of research grants totaling $92,867.

In addition to teaching, Sherrod has tackled many research projects over the years. Her inquisitive nature has led her to perform detailed excavations during archaeological investigations. Her curiosity has influenced her to travel around the country to explore how water flows about the surface which has taught her to value each drop. Sherrod has presented more than 35 poster presentations in regional and national settings and was involved in the making of “Escobar’s Hidden Millions’’ by the Discovery Channel. During this experience, Sherrod spent nearly a month in Colombia applying geophysical techniques that were utilized in the series’ development. She is commended for her vast contributions in the academic arena and her research abilities.

In her lecture, Sherrod will share how interpretations of the subsurface properties of the earth can be made using non-invasive geophysical instruments and measurements at the ground surface. This technology, such as ground penetrating radar and magnetometers, has been used across a wide range of disciplines. This lecture will focus on the convergence of science and history to search for a lost mass burial from the American Revolutionary War.

Sherrod was awarded the 2021 Chambliss Faculty Award. This award, inaugurated in 2004 through a gift from Dr. Carlson R. Chambliss, professor emeriti, Physical Sciences, is meant to recognize the very highest achievement in research and scholarship and can be awarded only once within a person's career.