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JAMES R. CONNOLLY

M.S., University of New Mexico, 1982. (Research Associate and X-ray Diffraction Lab Manager / Local Area Network Manager) (505) 277-9447 (Office: Northrop Hall, Rm. B-33); Email: connolly@unm.edu

Research and Academic Interests:

My research and teaching are reflective of diverse interests and include petrology and mineralogy of tuffaceous volcanic rocks, teaching special courses on the regional geology of New Mexico to non-geologists, and computer networking and network management. I also manage the Department's X-ray Diffraction Laboratory and it's Scintag PAD-V powder diffractometer system.

The work on volcanic rocks involved providing petrologic and mineralogical analysis of rock samples in support of engineering studies of thermal and mechanical properties done by Sandia National Laboratories as part of site characterization and performance assessment for the Department of Energy's Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Project near Las Vegas, Nevada. This work was under contract with SNL and completed in September of 1997. The project has been designated the main site for the placement of commercially generated nuclear waste, but the the DOE has not actually applied for a license as yet. I worked on this project in one form or another for almost 20 years and I suspect it will go on for many more.

To help bring an appreciation of Earth Science to non-geologists, I have developed and taught introductory classes to Elementary and Middle school students through the YWCA of Albuquerque's Environmental Science Discovery Camp, and developed and taught several classes each semester for the Elderhostel Program at UNM (which has now closed down). I recently worked with a group of high school students from Amy Biehl Charter School and ran a field trip out across the Albuquerque Basin and in the area around Jemez Springs.

Since 1995, I have managed the E&PS department's computer network, including this Worldwide Web site, and since the spring of 1996 through spring 2000 have taught classes on Microsoft Windows NT, 95 and 98, Networking and the Internet at UNM's Division of Continuing Education computer program.

Partial List of Publications:

Favorite Spots on the Internet:

Connolly's Research Page
This page, produced originally for a UNM Continuing Education class, provides all text relatively ugly non-graphical (hence quick-loading) links to the major Web based search engines, top sources for shareware software, topic-based research indices and links to UNM's library resources. Several other pages produced for Continuing Ed classes include one for Networking, Windows NT and TCP/IP and another for Windows 95 technical support. I am also quite proud of our locally hosted collection of shareware and free software at our FTP site; while not as up do date some of the other sources, it is local and always accessible.
Internet Geoscience Links
This page of useful links for geo- (and planetary) scientists is hosted on the Earth & Planetary Sciences web server. I'm always looking for additional links for this page, and your submissions are welcome to connolly@unm.edu.
MapQuest and MapsOnUs
If you do any traveling in the U.S. and need directions to get there (or just locate an address on a map), both the MapQuest and MapsOnUs sites are just what you need. Both sites will produce maps or give you door-to-door directions from point A to point B. Both sites can be "joined" for free so you can save your locations and maps.
Sites Related to Progressive Politics
Politics has become a dirty word in the U.S., however without it (and citizens who can rediscover how to develop political power) there is no hope of reclaiming our nation from the clutches of the Disney Company, General Electric, Archer Daniels Midland, R.J. Reynolds and other multi-national corporate giants. With that in mind, here are a few sites which are of interest to those who haven't given up hope. Civic Practices Network is a consortium of organizations which are out there doing something to revitalize public life through "new citizenship"; site contains lots of resources and examples of successes in community organization. FAIR raises serious questions about the information which we see, hear and read in the mainstream media with many RealAudio clips. (If you need RealPlayer software for your system, check here or look on our FTP site in the Internet folder.) Another progressive media institution is Pacifica Radio which produces Democracy Now!, and a daily news program which gives you some news you won't hear anywhere else. For a huge listing of progressive organizations, magazines and Ezines, try the ambitious and relatively new Webactive site.

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