Undergraduate Student Research

Students exploring the Texas Spring area in Death Valley National Park. This was part of a mapping project for the Winter Field Geology in Death Valley course, January 2026. Photo credit: Gavin McCall, B.S. Geology student, Appalachian State University

Tommy Sorber is a B.S. Geology Major also studying classical guitar performance at Appalachian State University. He is interested in field-based geology, structural processes, and sedimentology.

Tommy Sorber

Tommy’s Research investigates the kinematics of strike-slip faulting in the Alexander Hills, California using original geologic mapping and 3D modeling.

He is building high-resolution 3D mesh surfaces of formations in the area and will create simulations to model the displacement on the faults.