Ethan Matchinski
B.Sc., M.Envi.Sci.
Ethan Matchinski is currently a candidate for a Masters of Environmental Science (M.Envi.Sci.), with a background of a Bachelors in Science in Geology received May 2015 from St. Lawrence University, Canton, NY, USA. Studies at St. Lawrence focused primarily on hard rock and economic geology, but also included research in environmental geology, environmental geochemistry, alternative energy development and technology, and air pollution. Research conducted through St. Lawrence was presented at the AGU (American Geophysical Union) annual convention in April of 2015 during their poster presentation session titled “Reassessment of the intersection of the Great Falls Tectonic Zone and the Trans-Hudson Orogen through Petrologic and geochronological analysis of Deep Test Well derived samples”.
Between Undergraduate studies and current Graduate endeavors, Ethan interned with the Sonoma County Water Agency; a county level municipality providing water-transmission and wastewater treatment, as well as flooding hazard planning, mapping, and mitigation for the half million population of Sonoma County, CA, USA. Research there included revision and modernization of CSI master specifications for application in new construction projects; integration of transmission system blueprints into an interactive and self monitoring computer database; construction of current, and historic peak flooding hydrographs of the Russian River for flood prediction and integration with a GIS database and active stream gauge data provided by the Army Corps of Engineers; Constructed localized flood hazard maps for the City of Sonoma and Agua Caliente and identified drainage inadequacies; aided in assessing water and wastewater transmission pipeline vulnerabilities from seismic events and planning of location for Isolation Valves to mitigate effects of future seismic events, as largescale ancillary faults of the San Andreas run through the county.
Ethan began research at Memorial in a MSc of Geology program, from which he moved to a Master of Environmental Science program. Research for this program involved synthesis of relevant modern analyses and techniques to frame the current status of oil spill research and provide an introduction for it. This was applied with particular interest to the Arctic which is actively opening and developing as a hydrocarbon resource; all this research was for the purpose of producing an Introductory chapter for a book currently under publication by Elsevier, “World Sea.” Completion of the M.Envi.Sci program is expected to be as of late Spring 2018, from which Ethan aspires to begin a new Masters program in Engineering at Memorial University, in a topic yet to be determined.