Brookhaven Courier

Issue date: 9/10/07 Section: News

A 3,600 pound granite boulder can be found outside the K Building. When professors achieve 25 years of service to Brookhaven College, a tree or bench engraved with their name is installed.

Susan Maxey, geology professor at Brookhaven, opted for a boulder that not only represents her longevity at Brookhaven but can also be used as a teaching specimen.

"By the time I came to my 25-year mark, all the trees were taken," Maxey said. "I go out on all these field trips and see all these rocks and I think boy, I would like to take that back for me."

The rock was a birthday present from Maxey's husband. It came from Martin-Marietta quarry in Oklahoma and is 1.3-billion-years old.

Maxey said she hopes her rock will be the first of many to change the landscape at Brookhaven. Maxey along with her husband, a professor of geology at University of North Texas, helped develop the Troutt Family Geology Walk at UNT.

"This was a big operation to get that big boulder off the truck and installed," Maxey said.

Maxey said the reason she chose to place the rock between the K and P Building was because it's a good location to allow traffic to flow and maintain the landscape scene. The rock can be seen from inside the K Building and has a large black intrusion running across.

As a student at the University of Texas, Maxey developed her love for geology through field trips she took in the surrounding area with her classes. She said she enjoys creating similar experiences for her students by taking them on weekend field trips.

She has taken her students to Oklahoma, Austin area, Central Texas area, Hot Springs, Longhorn Caverns and even the Trinity River.

"Being out with the students and having them see what there is to science beyond the book, beyond slides and diagrams, and to see them integrate themselves with what they are studying has been a highlight for me," Maxey said. "They collect rocks and fossils and figure out what they represent."

She said she enjoys visits from past students she taught more than 20 years ago. Some of her former students have gone on to careers in teaching and return to ask for advice from Maxey.

"I had one student who found oil in West Texas and was very successful," Maxey said.

Over the summer break Maxey enjoyed a trip to Yellowstone National Park with her family and said she hopes to takes students there someday.

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