Education
Ph.D - Geology, University of Delaware
M.S. - Geoenvironmental Studies, Shippensburg University
B.A. - Geology, California State University, Fresno

Courses
Undergraduate:
ED416 - Elementary Social Studies Methods
ED430 - Field Experience in Education: Science
GL110 - Principles of Geology
GY201 - Principles of Geography
PH111 - Physical Science II: Earth and Environmental Science

Graduate:
ED658 - Seminar in Curriculum and Instruction

Elementary/Middle:
ED700 - Earth Science I
ED702 - Earth Science II
ED703 - Life Science
ED704 - Physical Science I
ED705 - Physical Science II
ED706 - Environmental Field Study
ED713 - Geology and Geoarchaeology of Baltimore Area Cathedrals

Secondary:
ED714 - Physical Earth Science
ED715 - Historical Earth Science
ED716 - Environmental Applications in Earth Science
ED717 - Global Climate Change
ED718 - Earth Science Field Methods
ED719 - Field Study in Earth Science

Awards
Recipient of the 2002-2003 Harry W. Rodgers, III, Distinguished Teacher of the Year Award

In an effort to prepare effective secondary earth science teachers for Maryland's schools, I took the initiative to develop a M.Ed. program that would combine the best practices in teaching with the best method of learning earth science. This best method is by acquiring direct experience in earth science research. The result of my efforts is the creation of a unique M.Ed. program in Curriculum and Instruction, with a Focus on Secondary Earth Science Content. This program was designed to merge constructivist teaching principles with state-of-the-art teaching and research methods, and authentic, field-based earth science research. The research conducted with classroom teachers during this program has resulted in scientific and education-oriented, peer-reviewed publications and professional presentations at both national and international levels.

The past two million years of earth history have seen numerous fluctuations of global climate ranging from cold, full-glacial conditions to warm, interglacial conditions such as exist at the present. For at least the last half-million years, the natural cycle has centered the warm episodes of climate history on 100,000-year intervals. The evidence for these interpretations comes from sources as distant as fossil-derived water chemistry in the deep oceans, to atmospheric gas chemistry in ice cores from the polar regions, to astronomical predictions of sunlight variability over time. Numerous uncertainties exist in these records and are compounded by the fact that human societies do not live in the depths of the oceans or at extremely high latitudes. In the global scientific community of climate change researchers, then, records of climate change extracted from areas adjacent to the world's human population centers are considered extremely useful in understanding our current predicament. This is where the importance of my current local and international research program lies.

With the vast majority of human civilization residing close to the edge of the world's oceans, coastal records of climate change are highly sought after. Sea level changes are proxy records of climate change in that as global temperatures decrease, locking water into the polar ice caps, sea level also decreases. By contrast, warming global temperatures melt polar ice, returning water to the world's ocean basins, forcing a rise in sea level. Studies of sea-level change along populated coastlines not only provide a record of the extent of changes that have occurred previously, with associated potential for environmental-impact prediction, but also yield an indication of the timing and variability of sea-level, and hence, coastline change. These coastal records also serve as a link to other ocean water, polar ice, and astronomical proxy records.

The main problem in extracting coastal records of climate change comes from the nature of sediments in the coastal zone, especially in locations such as the Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain. Sediments deposited during the high sea level of warm periods (highstands) are predominantly sand, with little organic matter. Subsequent highstand deposits have basically the same architecture, resulting in a long-term sequence of highstands reflective of large-scale climate fluctuations, that are predominantly piles of sand on sand. Cores or drill holes taken in these deposits seldom reveal their multi-sea level cyclicity. And, because little organic matter exists in these deposits, the dating of sea-level events is quite difficult.

There are two highly-specialized techniques that I use in my coastal geologic research program that have proven to be very successful in overcoming the difficulties of extracting climate records from the sediments of the Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain. The first is ground penetrating radar (GPR). This is a geophysical tool that uses FM radio waves sent through coastal sediments to define sea-level highstand packages. The second technique is a geologic dating (geochronology) method called amino acid racemization dating. This relies on the conversion of the living form of amino acids in fossil mollusk shells into a non-living form, at a known or calculable rate. By chemically extracting the amounts of both forms in a shell, the ratio of living to non-living forms can be used to determine the age, before present, when the organism died, and hence, the age of the deposit in which the fossil shell is found. My use of these techniques has resulted in collaboration with international researchers, in an effort to examine the highstand record of other coasts.

O'Neal, M.L. (2003). Field-Based Research Experience in Earth Science Teacher Education. Journal of Geoscience Education, v. 51, no. 1, p. 64-70.

O'Neal, M.L., Agwu, I.U., Green, M.T., Johnson, V.A., Jones, P.Y., Pritchett, S.R., Tummings, M.C., and Walton, M.F., (2002) Ground Penetrating Radar Analysis of an Emergent Mid-Pleistocene Estuarine Shoreline Complex, Chesapeake Bay, Maryland, USA. In Cooper, J.A.G. and Jackson, D., (eds.), Journal of Coastal Research, Special Publication 35, Proceedings of the International Coastal Symposium, 2002 (ICS 2002). Coastal Education and Research Foundation.

O'Neal, M.L. and McGeary, S., (2002). Late Quaternary Stratigraphy and Sea-level History of the Northern Delaware Bay Margin, Southern New Jersey, USA: a Ground Penetrating Radar Analysis of Composite Quaternary Coastal Terraces. Quaternary Science Reviews, v. 21, nos. 8-9, p. 929-946.

O'Neal, M.L., (2002). Research Experience in a Secondary Earth Science M.Ed. Program: A Field-Based Approach to In-Service Teacher Education. In Cushall, M., et al., (eds.), Successes in Teacher Education. Maryland Association of Teacher Educators, v. 2, p. 14-16.

O'Neal, M.L., Wehmiller, J.F., & Newell, W.L. (2000). Amino acid geochronology of Quaternary coastal terraces on the northern margin of Delaware Bay, southern New Jersey, USA. In Goodfriend, G.A., et al., (eds.), Perspectives in amino acid and protein geochemistry. Oxford University Press, New York, p. 301-319.

American Geophysical Union - San Francisco, California
December, 2005: Presenter of a paper entitled Field Studies in Science Teacher Preparation Programs: Examples of Research-Oriented Earth and Environmental Science Projects for Pre-service and In-service Teachers at the annual fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union. Abstract published in peer-reviewed Eos. Transactions. AGU, 86 (52), Fall Meeting Supplement, Abstract ED23A-1235.

American Geophysical Union - San Francisco, California
December 2005: Co-convener and session chair of a special focus session, SF01A, Near
Surface Geophysics I, at the annual fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union.

American Geophysical Union - San Francisco, California
December, 2004: Presenter of a paper entitled A Ground Penetrating Radar Experiment along the Warm Springs Valley Fault System, Western Nevada at the annual fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union. Abstract published in peer-reviewed Eos. Transactions. AGU, 85 (47), Fall Meeting Supplement, Abstract S43C-1028.

International Quaternary Association (INQUA) - Reno, Nevada
July, 2003: Presenter of a paper entitled The Use of Ground Penetrating Radar in Quaternary Sea Level Studies: An Overview from Three Investigations in the Delaware and Chesapeake Bays, U.S.A. at the XVI INQUA Congress. Abstract published in conference proceedings.

Geological Society of America - Tysons Corner, Virginia
March, 2003: Co-presenter of a paper entitled Stratigraphy of a Stranded Mid-Pleistocene Chesapeake Bay Shoreline Complex, Dorchester County, Maryland, USA at the joint Northeastern/Southeastern Section meeting of the Geological Society of America. Co-presenters were graduate students in the Curriculum and Instruction, with a Focus on Secondary Earth Science Content, M.Ed. program. Abstract published in conference proceedings.

International Coastal Symposium 2002 Templepatrick, Northern Ireland
March, 2002: Presenter of paper entitled Ground Penetrating Radar Analysis of an Emergent Mid-Pleistocene Estuarine Shoreline Complex, Chesapeake Bay, Maryland, USA at an international symposium of coastal research.

Geological Society of America Boston, Massachusetts
November, 2001: Presenter of a paper entitled Evaluation of a Field-Based Earth Science M.Ed. Program for In-Service Earth Science Teachers at the annual convention of the Geological Society of America. Abstract published in conference proceedings.

Geological Society of America Boston, Massachusetts
November, 2001: Co-presenter of a paper entitled Ground Penetrating Radar Investigation of an Emergent Mid-Pleistocene Estuarine Shoreline Complex on Maryland's Eastern Shore, Chesapeake Bay, Maryland, USA at the annual convention of the Geological Society of America. Abstract published in conference proceedings.

* Co-presenters were graduate students in the M.Ed. program in Curriculum and Instruction, with a Focus on Secondary Earth Science.

Geological Society of London London, England
August, 2001: Presenter of a paper entitled Multiple Stage 5 Highstands on the Southern New Jersey Coastal Plain: Late Pleistocene Allostratigraphy of the Northern Delaware Bay Margin at the first international Ground Penetrating Radar in Sediments: Applications and Interpretation conference, sponsored by The Geological Society of London and the University College of London.

Southeastern GSA Raleigh, North Carolina
April, 2001: Presenter of a paper entitled Multiple Stage 5 Highstands on the Southern New Jersey Coastal Plain: Late Pleistocene Allostratigraphy of the Northern Delaware Bay Margin at the Southeastern Section meeting of the Geological Society of America. Abstract published in conference proceedings.

Northeastern GSA Burlington, Vermont
March, 2001: Co-presenter of a paper entitled A Model for the Evolution of Estuarine Margin Drainages and Coastal Stratigraphic Sequences Sea Level Cycles and Fluvial Displacement at the Northeastern Section meeting of the Geological Society of America. Abstract published in conference proceedings.

American Quaternary Association (AMQUA) Fayetteville, Arkansas
May, 2000: Presenter of paper entitled Late Pleistocene Allostratigraphy of the Northern Delaware Bay Margin: Implications for a Post-Substage 5e Highstand on the Southern New Jersey Coastal Plain at the 16th Biennial Meeting of the American Quaternary Association. Abstract published in conference proceedings.

Geological Society of America Toronto, Canada
October, 1998: Presenter of paper entitled Amino Acid Geochronology of Quaternary Coastal Terraces on the Northern Margin of Delaware Bay, Southern New Jersey, USA, at the annual convention of the Geological Society of America. Abstract published in conference proceedings.

Carnegie Institution of Washington - Washington, DC
April, 1998: Presenter of a research and additional results paper entitled Amino Acid Geochronology of Delaware Bay Quaternary Coastal Terrace Deposits: Morie Pit, Southern New Jersey, USA, at the Perspectives in Amino Acid and Protein Geochemistry Conference sponsored by the Geophysical Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. Abstract published in conference proceedings.

Center for Teaching Effectiveness Symposium - Newark, Delaware
April, 1998: Invited speaker at a symposium aimed at preparing graduate students for the search for, and transition to, academic positions, sponsored by the University of Delaware's Center for Teaching Effectiveness. Contributions published in both print and web versions of the center's spring newsletter.

Northeastern GSA - Portland, Maine
March, 1998: Presenter of paper entitled The Geologist in the Classroom: Coming in from the Fringe, as an invited speaker at the symposium entitled Educating the Public About Ourselves, at the Northeastern Section meeting of the Geological Society of America. Abstract published in conference proceedings.

MAST - Solomons, Maryland
October, 1997: Presenter of elementary/middle school physical science workshop for classroom teachers, entitled Speed It Up!, at the annual conference of the Maryland Association of Science Teachers.

Maryland Governor's Academy for Mathematics and Science - Towson, Maryland
July, 1997: Served as facilitator for curriculum development in the 1997 Maryland Governor's Academy for Mathematics and Science, for Maryland middle and high school teachers.

Geological Society of America - Denver, Colorado
October, 1996: Presenter of paper entitled Ground Penetrating Radar Analysis of Composite Quaternary Coastal Terraces on the Northern Margin of the Delaware Bay, at the annual convention of the Geological Society of America. Abstract published in conference proceedings.

MAST - Emmitsburg, Maryland
October, 1996: Presenter of elementary/middle school physical science workshop for classroom teachers, entitled Building a Better Burglar Alarm, at the annual conference of the Maryland Association of Science Teachers.