Dave Szymanski

David Szymanski, Ph.D. is a geologist with research interests ranging from the chemical evolution of magmas to environmental impacts of human and natural processes on surface waters. He is also a forensic chemist, specializing the examination of glass as trace evidence, and has testified in a number of criminal cases. As a former Congressional Science Fellow in the U.S. Senate, Szymanski now involves students in research for nonpartisan policy development on issues of energy, climate and natural resources. As a science communicator and science educator, he conducts pedagogical research on how to teach non-scientists the business of applying scientific concepts to real-world problems.

Education

• Ph.D. Michigan State University
• MS Michigan State University
• MS Michigan State University
• BA University of St Thomas

Teaching Interests

Earth science; The recycling of matter; Forensic science; Applications of chemistry; Energy, natural resource and climate policy

Research Interests

• College-level science teaching and learning for non-scientists;
• Origin and evolution of magmas;
• Mass balance and scales of element recycling in earth processes;
• Chemical analysis of glass and other forensic trace evidence

Consulting/Practice Interests

Criminal and civil forensic science consulting

Awards and Honors

• 2020, Elected Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science
• 2017, Rainbow Award, Bentley University
• 2017, Summer Research Grant, Bentley University
• 2017, Elected Fellow, Geological Society of America
• 2016, Innovation in Teaching Award, Bentley University
• 2016, Summer Research Grant, Bentley University
• 2015, Summer Research Grant, Bentley University
• 2013, Faculty Student Research Assistantship, Jeanne and Dan Valente Center for Arts and Sciences, Bentley University and National Biomedical Research Foundation
• 2013, Summer Research Grant, Bentley University
• 2013, Joseph M. Cronin Award for Excellence in Academic Advising, Bentley University
• 2013, Research Fellowship, Valente Center for Arts and Sciences
• 2012, Faculty Student Research Assistantship, Jeanne and Dan Valente Center for Arts and Sciences, Bentley University and National Biomedical Research Foundation
• 2012, Summer Research Grant, Bentley University
• 2011, Curricular Service-Learning Faculty Award, Bentley Service Learning Center
• 2011, Summer Research Grant, Bentley University
• 2011, Innovation in Teaching Award, Bentley University
• 2010, Faculty Student Research Assistantship, Jeanne and Dan Valente Center for Arts and Sciences, Bentley University and National Biomedical Research Foundation
• 2009, Rauch Faculty Enrichment Fund Grant, Bentley University
• 2008, AAAS Congressional Science Fellow, Senator Jon Tester (D-MT), Geological Society of America/U.S. Geological Survey
• 2008, Selected for the Earth Science Literacy Initiative (ESLI) Writer Workshop, St. Louis, MO, National Science Foundation
• 2006, New Scientist Award, Midwestern Association of Forensic Scientists (MAFS)

Publications

Journal Articles

• Price, J. R., Szymanski, D. W., Slemmons, K. E., Esky, M., Johnson, E., Bricker, S. (2022). Climatic controls on phosphorus concentrations in The Loch, Loch Vale Watershed, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, USA since the last glacial maximum. Quaternary Research.
• Fortner, S., Manduca, C., Guertin, L., Szymanski, D. W., Villalobos, J. (2019). Teaching for Earth Resilience: A Strategy for Increased Diversity and Equity. GSA Today, (28) 36-37.
• Meldrum, H., Szymanski, D. W., Oches, E. A., Davis, P. T. (2016). A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words: Commentary of Broadcast Meteorologists on the Visual Presentation of Climate Change. International Journal of Social Ecology and Sustainable Development, (7) 4 1-16.
• Szymanski, D. W., Oches, E. A., Fletcher Brown, D., Sipe, T. W., Nesteruk, J., Turner, S. P., Mooney, C. H., Iverson, E. R. (2016). Developing transdisciplinary sustainability curricula requires an academic culture change. In The Trenches, (6) 3 12-13.
• Bouldin, R. M., Hall, G. J., Oches, E. A., Szymanski, D. W., Ledley, F. D. (2015). Connecting Business and STEM Education Through Undergraduate Research. Council on Undergraduate Research Quarterly, (35) 4 17-24.
• Price, J. R., Szymanski, D. W. (2013). The effects of road salt on stream water chemistry of two small forested watersheds in Catoctin Mountain, Maryland, USA. Aquatic Geochemistry.
• Szymanski, D. W., Patino, L. C., Vogel, T. A., Alvarado, G. E. (2013). Evaluating Complex Magma Mixing via Polytopic Vector Analysis (PVA) in the Papagayo Tuff, Northern Costa Rica: Processes that Form Continental Crust. Geosciences, (3) 585-615.
• Price, J. R., Szymanski, D. W. (2013). The effects of road salt on stream water chemistry of two small forested watersheds in Catoctin Mountain, Maryland, USA. Aquatic Geochemistry.
• Szymanski, D. W., Hadlock, C. R., Zlotkowski, E. A. (2012). Using Public Sector Research Projects to Engage Undergraduates. Council of Undergraduate Research (CUR) Quarterly, (33) 2 19-26.
• Price, J. R., Rice, K. C., Szymanski, D. W. (2012). Mass-balance modeling of mineral weathering rates and CO2 consumption in the forested Hauver Branch watershed, Catoctin Mountain, Maryland, USA. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, (early on-line ) doi: 10.1002/esp.3373 17 pp.
• Price, J. R., Hardy, C., Tefend, K. S., Szymanski, D. W. (2012). Solute geochemical mass-balances and mineral weathering rates in small watersheds II: Biomass nutrient uptake, more equations in more unknowns, and land use/land cover effects. Applied Geochemistry, (27) 1247–1265.
• Deering, C. D., Vogel, T. A., Patino, L. C., Szymanski, D. W., Alvarado, G. E. (2012). Magmatic processes that generate chemically distinct silicic magmas in NW Costa Rica and the evolution of juvenile continental crust in oceanic arcs. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, (163) 2 259-275.
• LaGoo, L., Schaeffer, L., Szymanski, D. W., Waddell Smith, R. (2010). Detection of Gunshot Residue in Blowfly Larvae and Decomposing Porcine Tissue using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). Journal of Forensic Sciences, (55) 3 624-632.
• Gazel, E., Carr, M. J., Hoernle, K., Feigenson, ., Szymanski, D. W., Hauff, F. (2009). Galapagos-OIB signature in southern Central America: Mantle refertilization by arc-hot spot interaction. Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems, (10) 2 1-32.
• McGaw, E. A., Szymanski, D. W., Waddell Smith, R. (2009). Characterization of Undigested Particulate Material Following Microwave Digestion of Recycled Document Papers. Journal of Forensic Sciences, (54) 5 1171-1175.
• McGaw, E. A., Szymanski, D. W., Waddell Smith, R. (2009). Determination of trace elemental concentrations in document papers for forensic comparison using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Journal of Forensic Sciences, (54) 5 1163-1170.
• Price, J. R., Heitmann, N., Hull, J., Szymanski, D. W. (2008). Long-Term Average Mineral Weathering Rates from Watershed Geochemical Mass Balance Methods: Using Mineral Modal Abundances to Solve More Equations in More Unknowns. Chemical Geology, (254) 1-2 36-51.
• Sibley, D. F., Anderson, C. W., Heidemann, M., Merrill, J. E., Parker, J. M., Szymanski, D. W. (2007). Box Diagrams to Assess Students' Systems Thinking about the Rock, Water and Carbon Cycles. Journal of Geoscience Education, (55) 138-146.
• Bommarito, C. R., Sturdevant, A. B., Szymanski, D. W. (2007). Analysis of forensic soil samples via high performance liquid chromatography and ion chromatography. Journal of Forensic Sciences, (52) 1 24-30.
• Book Chapters
• Jackson, M. M., Patino, L. C., Szymanski, D. W. (2023). Buckles from Fort Ouiatenon: Searching for interpretive clues in the documents and testing for their composition In Jackson., M.M., Cooper, H.K., and Hovde, D.M., (Eds.) The History and Archaeology of Fort Ouiatenon: 300 Years in the Making. West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Press Forthcoming.
• Meldrum, H., Szymanski, D. W., Oches, E. A., Davis, P. T. (2017). Speaking out or staying quiet on climate change: Broadcast meteorologists influenced by the need to be pithy, popular and politically cautious In Walter Leal Filho, Jesse M. Keenan, (Eds.) Climate Change Adaptation in North America: experiences, case studies and best practice, W. Leal Fihlo and J.M. Keenan (editors). Berlin: Springer International Publishing