Udden Geology Club

Udden Geology Club meets weekly for informal presentations and discussions on a wide range of topics in an effort to help develop student interest in the broader geosciences.

Presentations are typically given by faculty, students, or alumni and time is allotted afterwards for discussion. We often invite outside speakers to talk about their research, careers, or graduate school experiences.

In addition to weekly meetings, Udden Club sponsors occasional local/regional field trips and participates in campus events.

Founded in 1933 in honor of J.A. Udden, who taught geology at Augustana from 1888-1911, Udden Geology club is one of the oldest organizations at Augustana College.

President: Cavit Schempp
Vice president: Jack Hughes

Advisor: Dr. Jeff Strasser
Phone: 309-794-7218

J. A. Udden

J.A. Udden taught geology at Augustana College from 1888 to 1911. Udden was an accomplished researcher in fields of sedimentology and stratigraphy. He pioneered studies of wind-blown sediment, and he is well-known for his development of a grain-size scale, which today is known today as the Udden-Wentworth scale.

Udden was one of the first geologists to demonstrate that Pleistocene loess in the Upper Mississippi Valley was transported and deposited by wind, rather than water. Udden published numerous papers on the geology of the Rock Island area, and his interest in the wind led him to build an early working model of a flying machine.

For more information about J.A. Udden, refer to: Hansen, W.B., 1985, Dust in the wind: J.A. Udden's turn-of-the-century research at Augustana, in Drake, E.T. and Jordan, W.M., Geologists and Ideas: A History of North American Geology: G.S.A. Centennial Special Volume 1, p. 302-214.