Teaching Just One Part Of
WKU Faculty Member's Career
Dcember 18, 2003
Bowling Green, Ky. - Dr. Andrew Wulff rocks. That's not unusual for a mineralogist.
But the assistant professor in Western Kentucky University's Department of Geography and Geology also rocks as a bass guitarist in a Bowling Green band. And he sings, acts and coaches lacrosse.
For Wulff, teaching is about more than lectures and tests. It's about mentoring students, preparing them for the future and letting them see that faculty members are complete persons.
"Everyone has a different context, built from their life experiences, that dictates how they approach learning. My history dictates the way that I approach teaching, and I think that it's important for students to know why I concentrate on certain aspects of the subjects I present," he said.
Wulff, who completed his doctoral work at the University of Massachusetts, came to Western two years ago after stops as Geology Department Chair at Whittier College in California and the University of Iowa.
But his career at the undergraduate level helped shape his career as an educator of undergraduates. Even though his mother was an immunologist and his sister is a marine biologist, academics took a backseat while he was at Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio.
"I did everything but study when I was an undergraduate," he said. Wulff played three varsity sports, directed musicals and was a residence hall director.
In classes, he always had questions and was uncomfortable just listening to lectures. "I always wanted to know why some fact or concept was important. When I understood the context, I understood the concept better. In the long run, that's why I got involved in science and why I love teaching. It's understanding the why," he said.
After graduation, he got a job with the Maryland Geological Survey, which he calls a "total fluke of reality" given his undergraduate career. He kept playing lacrosse and started a theatre group in Baltimore so he could direct plays and musicals. He then earned his master's degree at the University of Maryland.
A funding cut for teaching assistants at Maryland prompted Wulff and a friend to audition for the Washington Opera Chorus. The chorus audition led to a few minor roles which led to international competitions which led to opera roles with Washington Opera, Baltimore Opera, Santa Fe Opera and other major companies.
His opera singing led to roles on television, radio and film and even to a tour of Europe. "At that time I didn't know if I had a talent in geology, but I could bellow on stage," he said.
Eventually, his background in academia took center stage. After a performance in Marseilles, France, he received a fax that he'd been accepted into the University of Massachusetts doctoral program.
"I whooped and yelled. I don't think until that point I had realized how much I wanted to do geology and teach," Wulff said.
That's also when the curtain rose on his research into volcanoes.
Wulff's work has focused on a volcanic complex in the Andes Mountains in Chile. He also conducts research on volcanoes in Java along with his numerous other interests in geology and beyond.
"It's the richest blessing in your life - that you could thoroughly enjoy all the things you're involved with," Wulff said. "I can't imagine it being better than it is."
Wulff seeks projects that involve undergraduate students to teach them research skills and to expose them to different cultures. "Once students leave here, unless they get an extraordinary job, they're not going to have the time or the resources to explore a new part of the world," he said.
In the Chilean Andes, Wulff is studying layers of lava exposed by erosion of half-million-year-old volcanoes. "By looking at the chemical and mineralogical composition of the lavas, we can tell something about how the volcano has behaved over time, and with that we can make more accurate predictions of what will happen in the future," he said.
He also brings his expertise on other geologic issues – mineralogy, petrology and medical geology - into the classroom. Wulff's geology background includes working with a urologist studying kidney stones, studying sediments in Chesapeake Bay, tracking sources of radon in Maryland and Pennsylvania, and working for the Maryland Geological Survey and a gold exploration firm.
"That's what is fun for me, where geology impacts all these other things," he said. "The idea is that we can get students here to understand that geology really has a global impact on other subjects of study. If you're in economics, you need to know who has the gold and the resources. The study of history is the study of geographical and geologic boundaries. Who has the resources? Who is living on the hill and who is living in the swamp? Literature and the arts have so many rich references to Earth and the processes that form it. And, from the standpoint of understanding geopolitics, students need to have some understanding of the 'geo' part."
He is continuing his research of radon, an issue for southcentral Kentucky's karst region; the medical implications of breathing airborne mineral and chemical particulates; his interest in the connection between geology and archaeology, a key feature of his research on human migration in Java; and his work on the geochemistry of artifacts, which reveals clues about migration patterns and trading routes of Native Americans.
"What I do now really is based on the fact that I have all those different interests. I still sing. I still direct plays. I still do concerts. I talk rocks with elementary schools and Brownie troops. I'm hoping to continue to coach the lacrosse team. It's all about the richness of life!"
Rock on.
For more information, contact Andrew Wulff at (270) 745-5976. More WKU news is available on the World Wide Web at www.wku.edu. If you'd like to receive WKU news via E-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.
