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Profile

Dr. Sandy was a Professor of Geology and taught general education courses and those in the curriculum for Geology, Environmental Geology and Environmental Biology majors. In addition, he ran graduate workshops for teachers focusing on using local geologic resources in teaching. He received the College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Scholarship Award in 1996 and the University of Dayton Alumni Award for Scholarship in 1997.

Faculty perspective

"Geology has allowed me to carry out geological fieldwork in beautiful, isolated parts of the world including British Columbia, Alaska, California, Scotland, France, New Zealand and Ohio. Some places were more isolated than others! I first became interested in geology when my brother was collecting fossils from a cliff along the coast of Dorset, England - I think I was 8 years old; in my teens I wondered why the North Downs, a range of hills south of London, rose up above the surrounding countryside - the answer was Geology! I moved to the USA from the United Kingdom in 1986 to join the Geology Department at the University of Dayton. One thing that I consider important to impart about geology is the connection between the present day and the ancient earth; the geologic record abounds with evidence of large scale change. It is my hope that I can provide to those in my classes a sense of: the earth’s distant past; the many precedents for global change in the geological past; and that evidence for evolution abounds in the fossil and living record of life on earth … if I can do these things I hope I will be helping others to better understand the earth."

Research interests

• Mesozoic brachiopods, their taxonomy, biogeography and ecology
• Brachiopods in strange and unusual places - chemosynthetic environments
• Urban geology
• Geology of building stones

Selected publications

Over 40 articles on Mesozoic brachiopods and the geology of building stones in peer-reviewed journals; approximately 50 presentations at regional, national and international conferences.