Staff

Industrial Minerals and Resource Economics staff members are available to answer questions about industrial mineral resources and Illinois geology. Select staff names below for complete contact information.

Construction Aggregates

Zakaria Lasemi, Ph.D.

Geologist and Section Head

• Crushed stone aggregate resources
• High-calcium limestone resources
• Characterizing limestone and dolomite for flue gas desulfurization
• Limestone and aggregate petrography
• Mississippian geology and stratigraphy

Xiaodong Miao, Ph.D.

Applied Sedimentologist

• Geomorphology and Quaternary geology
• Sand and gravel mapping
• Eolian loess and sand
• Luminescence dating
• Soil and paleosols
• Paleoclimate and global change

Donald G. Mikulic, Ph.D.

Geologist

• Crushed stone aggregate resources of the northern one-third of the state
• Silurian geology and stratigraphy
• History of the stone industry

C. Pius Weibel, Ph.D.

Geologist

• Glacial geology in the Peoria area
• Computer-aided geologi mapping
• Karst geology
• Regional bedrock geology

Resource Economics Program

Subhash B. Bhagwat, Ph.D., M.B.A.

Resource Economist, Honorary

• Mineral industry in Illinois
• Water resources of Illinois
• Benefit/cost analysis
• Underground mining feasibility

Bedrock Geology

F. Brett Denny, M.S.

Geologist

• Geologic mapping

Joseph Devera, M.S.

Geologist

• Geologic mapping
• Paleontology
• Stratigraphy

Hannes Leetaru, Ph.D.

Bedrock Geologist

• Three-dimensional modeling
• Petroleum geology
• Computer applications and mapping

Geological Samples Library

Robert Mumm

• Core and sample collections

Jared Freiburg, B.S.

Geologist

Honorary Staff

Subhash B. Bhagwat, Ph.D., M.B.A.

Resource Economist, Honorary

• Mineral industry in Illinois
• Water resources of Illinois
• Benefit/cost analysis
• Underground mining feasibility

Randall E. Hughes, Ph.D.

Clay Mineralogist, Honorary

• Clay mineralogy
• Clay and shale resources
• Geoarcheology

Dennis Kolata, Ph.D.

Geologist, Honorary

• Geologic mapping
• Stratigraphy and sequence stratigraphy
• Ordovician geology and stratigraphy

Rodney D. Norby, Ph.D.

Paleontologist, Honorary

• Paleontology
• Conodont biostratigraphy
• Paleontology collection curator

Other Inquiries

For all other inquiries contact Zakaria Lasemi.