The purpose of this page is to provide students and colleagues a list of academic resources, tools, and software that I use regularly in my research and day-to-day tasks. Resources are categorized by function to make finding relevant information easier
Research Materials
- Google Scholar – Without a doubt, Google Scholar is my go-to resource for finding information relevant to my research. Powerful search criteria and filters allow me to find articles based on relevance, date of publication, author, and number of citations. I can even narrow my search to only papers which have cited a particular paper I am interested in.
- National Geologic Map Database – Hosted by the USGS, the NGMDB is a fantastic resource for finding geologic maps of a region. From country- and state-wide maps to local quadrangles,
Software
- Adobe Creative Cloud – Adobe software is the industry standard for photo editing and figure construction. Although all the software can used for a monthly fee, it is well worth it. If your university makes the software available to you for free, use it! If Adobe isn’t in the budget, both GIMP (photoshop) and Inkscape (illustrator) are powerful free alternatives! In a pinch, PowerPoint can be used as a vector graphics program, with some surprisingly good results.
- QGIS – Free and open-source GIS program that is stable, highly customizable, and has an ever growing list of plugins for geospatial analyses!
- Stereonet 10 – Another fantastic piece of free software from Rick Allmendinger. This program does away with pen and paper stereonets, and facilitates easy analyses of structural data.
FieldMove Clino – A powerful clinometer app that allows you to take strike and dip measurements using your phone. It can also be used for paleocurrent data measurement, digital notes, and basic mapping. Links: iOS | Android
Kevin Gardner 