The Department of Geology is pleased to introduce several new members. Read more about their research and specialties.
Collen Gura
Colleen Gura has been a part of Kansas State University as both a student and 
now a faculty member since 2014. She joined the Department of Geology at Kansas State University as a Teaching Assistant Professor in August of 2021 while finishing her Ph.D. in Geography and Geospatial Science at Kansas State University. She has a Master’s in Geology (2016) and a B.S. in Secondary Education, Earth Science (2004) also from K-State. Between her B.S. and Master’s, she spent 10 years teaching various science courses at Jack Britt High School in Fayetteville, NC. While there, she also developed the county Earth Science curriculum and taught workshops for other teachers. At K-State, she teaches the introductory courses Earth in Action and Natural Disasters, is the undergraduate advisor, and is the GTA instructional mentor. Her main research interests are centered around weathering processes and how they operate on both rock and soil.
Dr. Morteza Heydari
Morteza received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering at the University of North Texas. His research focused on computational study of internal and external fluid flows with applications to microchannels, medical devices, marine propellers and unmanned aerial systems (UAS). During his PhD, he investigated aerodynamics and aeroacoustics of a multi-rotor unmanned aerial system and developed a reduced order model for predicting the propeller-wing interaction effects on the UAS aerodynamics.
At K-State, Morteza works with Dr. Behzad Ghanbarian to model reactive transport in individual fractures. This project funded by Saudi Aramco helps understanding the effect of hydraulic fracturing treatments on liquid permeability. This study aims to facilitate simulations of fluid flows through unconventional reservoirs and further understand their physics, which will eventually contribute to oil and gas exploration and production industry. Morteza will continue conducting research on various aspects of fluid mechanics focusing on the knowledge gap areas in bio-fluid dynamics, multiphase flows, separated flows and aeroacoustics.