Janis Treworgy

Professor and Program Chair of Geology

Email: Janis.Treworgy@principia.edu

B.S., Principia College
M.S., University of Illinois
Ph.D., University of Illinois

Janis Treworgy joined the Principia faculty in the fall of 2000. She began this second career after working for 25 years at the Illinois State Geological Survey (ISGS) in Champaign, Illinois, where she was a Senior Geologist in the Sedimentary and Crustal Processes Section. Her research has been on the stratigraphy, depositional environments, and structural and tectonic setting of the Paleozoic rocks of the Illinois Basin, with a focus on the upper Mississippian rocks. She has led field trips in the Alton-to-Pere Marquette area and welcomes the opportunity to share her years of experience in the area with Prin students.

Mammoth Project Director
Janis directs the excavation of a woolly mammoth found on the campus in 1999. She teaches a course in the fall and spring terms in which students learn how to excavate delicate, but large mammoth bones and clean and consolidate them in the lab. Nearly all of the excavation and lab work is done by students taking this course. It’s a unique opportunity for both the students and Janis. As a result of this project, her research interests are taking her into the Pleistocene (time of the Ice Age) and vertebrate paleontology, with a focus on Mammuthus primigenius.

Teacher Education
Janis has given workshops for K-12 teachers on mammoths, giving teachers background information on mammoths and the Ice Age so that they can do a unit on them with their students. Area teachers can then bring their classes to Principia to see first-hand a real mammoth excavation and bone preparation laboratory.
Prior to coming to Prin, Janis collaborated with the Illinois State Board of Education conducting geology workshops for K-12 teachers throughout Illinois. Along with the workshop effort, she and her colleagues designed over 40 activities for use in both the workshops and in the K-12 classrooms. These activities, which are linked to the State Learning Standards, are available in the ISGS GeoActivities Series.

Founder of Independent School
In 1992 Janis co-founded a secular independent school, Countryside School, in Champaign-Urbana, which is now a flourishing K-8 school of 130 students. She learned a lot about education and independent schools through her eight years serving in various roles, including co-head of school, president of the board, and chair of the building committee.

Professional Memberships

  • American Association of Petroleum Geologists
  • Geological Society of America
    • North-Central Section meeting, Champaign , Ill. , April 1999
      • Local Planning Committee, co-chair of field trips
  • National Association of Geoscience Teachers
    • Central Section, second vice president, 2000-01
    • Central Section, first vice president, 2001-2002
    • Central Section, president, 2002-2003
    • Central Section, secretary/editor, 2004-2007
  • SEPM (Society for Sedimentary Geology)
    • Great Lakes Section - SEPM, vice president, 1994-95
    • Great Lakes Section - SEPM, president, 1998-99
  • Illinois Geological Society
  • Illinois Science Teachers Association
  • National Earth Science Teachers Association
  • National Science Teachers Association
  • Licensed Professional Geologist in the State of Illinois

Choice of academic field:
Initially I was a math major, but when I took my first geology course in the spring of my freshman year, everything connected for me. This connection was due in large part to my parents' having taken our family on driving vacations through many of the national parks out west. Also, my dad led us on many hikes and backpacking trips, which I grew to love. The questioning, reasoning, and discovering that goes with the physical sciences is the same as with Christian Science.

Why I feel my field is essential for students:
It is so important for all students to have a working knowledge of geology, no matter what field they go into. Every potential homeowner should understand the issues of groundwater protection, the level of an ever-fluctuating water table relative to one's basement, the potential for landslides if one is on any kind of a slope, the risk of flooding, earthquake risk, etc. Every citizen should know the right questions to ask about a potential landfill site — how permeable are the underlying earth materials and what will separate the landfill from the shallowest aquifer or groundwater supply? Every politician, developer, and planner should realize the importance of mineral resources, including construction resources such as sand, gravel, and crushed stone, and should encourage master plans for communities that will allow for locally mining such resources to aid a community's growth rather than building on top of the resources and thereby rendering them unusable. These are just a few of the points covered in a geology class, but they illustrate the importance of the topic to our daily life.

Current research projects:

  • Sequence stratigraphy of upper Mississippian rocks in the Illinois Basin. Developing materials for K-12 earth science education.
  • Excavating a woolly mammoth on Principia's college campus — see our Web site: www.prin.edu/mammoth

Reasons for teaching at Principia:
"I love teaching and learning. I enjoy working with people to enlighten them (and myself) on topics relevant to their lives, and I fully agree with the educational philosophy at Principia."

Interests besides teaching:
I like most spending time with my family and traveling with them. I also like to play tennis.