Dr. Russell Dodson

Dr. Russell Dodson is chair of the department and teaches both geography and geology courses. He developed the program in Environmental Science and is advisor to students in that emphasis. The outdoors are important to him and he enjoys taking students hiking, whitewater rafting, caving, skiing- and dinner and a movie. He has been advisor to the Geography Club since its inception in 1983. Listening to live music (bluegrass, folk, old timey) and dancing (contra dancing mostly) are his favorite pastimes.

He has even been known to clog in class - at the request of students, of course. He is also learning to play the mountain dulcimer, though it's proving to be a slow process. Recently, he has acted in a number of non-professional plays and skits, written a humorous song and poem about a dreaded childhood experience (the Saturday night bath), and concocted a story suitable for a Liars Club presentation. Dr. Dodson joined the Mansfield faculty in 1982. He is a graduate of Wayne State University (B.S.E. Geography, 1972), and Michigan State University (M.S. Geography 1974; Ph.D. Geography, 1985). In his nonacademic life he has had jobs ranging from surveyor in the Army to production foreman at Ford Motor Company.

rdodson@mansfield.edu (570) 662-4614

Dr. Jennifer Demchak

Dr. Jennifer Demchak leads the Watershed Management program in the Geography and Geology Department. She teaches courses such as Introduction to Watershed Management, Introduction to Soils, and Hydrogeology. Her main professional interests are acid mine drainage remediation.

She is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown (B.S. Biology, 1996), Clarion University ( M.S. Biology, 1998) and West Virginia University (Ph.D. Plant and Soil Science, 2005). From 2002 to the present she has been president of an environmental consulting company which focusses on watershed management and mine drainage treatment. 

She is the advisor of the Watershed club and has instilled a passion for watershed restoration in many students in the department.

To contact Dr. Demchak call (570) 662-4613 or email to jdemchak@mansfield.edu

Dr. Christopher Kopf

Dr. Christopher Kopf directs the Natural Gas Production and Services program and teaches a range of courses in Geology. He is also the content advisor for the Earth & Space Science Education Program for middle and secondary school teachers. Dr. Kopf’s courses stress the importance of basic field observations and geologic mapping. In his courses he helps students to understand connections between geologic processes that impact the world at the scale of tiny mineral grains all the way up to giant mountain ranges. Dr. Kopf is also the advisor to the campus Geology Club.

Dr. Kopf joined the faculty at Mansfield in the fall of 2008. He first became interested in geology as an undergraduate at Colgate University, and received his doctorate in Geology at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst in 1999. Dr. Kopf was a post-doctoral Research Fellow at the University of Minnesota and taught at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown prior to joining the Mansfield faculty. His primary research interests revolve around the behavior of the deep crust and the (very!) long-term growth and evolution of North America, but he also maintains a broad fascination with most aspects of the world around us. His research has allowed him to spend extensive time mapping and enjoying the outdoors in Northern Canada, the Baja Peninsula of Mexico, the Adirondacks, and Sierra Nevada mountains of California. He is an avid backpacker, cyclist, and canoeist.

To contact Dr. Kopf call (570) 662-4615 or email to ckopf@mansfield.edu

Dr. Lee Stocks Jr.

Dr. Lee Stocks Jr. is a new faculty member who teaches both geography and geology courses. Prior to joining the Mansfield faculty he was an Assistant Professor of Geology at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke.He has worked in the geosciences for sixteen years in both academic and professional capacities. Dr. Stocks has a diverse background with experience in geology, geomorphology, geography, and environmental science. Dr. Stocks worked for several years with the West Virginia GIS Technical Center, West Virginia Geological Survey, and the West Virginia Speleological Survey conducting research and field investigations, mapping geologic quadrangles, caves, abandoned coal mines and gas wells, as well as reviewing permits for shallow injection wells. His research focuses on karst geomorphology, or landforms produced by the dissolution of limestone, particularly the geohazards and impacts in those environments including sinkholes, landslides, and caves which are exacerbated by human development. Dr. Stocks earned his Ph.D. in Physical Geography and Geology from Kent State University were he focused on sinkhole collapse in the rapidly urbanizing panhandle of West Virginia. Outside of academia he spends time with family biking, hiking, geocaching, fossil hunting, climbing/rappelling, ridgewalking, and looking for new caves to explore.

To contact Dr. Stocks call (570) 662-4612 or email to Lstocks@mansfield.edu

Retired Faculty

Dr. Kathy Thorne

Dr. Kathy Thorne retired from Mansfield University in the Spring of 2009. We all wish her the best in her new home in Louisiana.

Her current email address is: kfthorne@epix.net