Dr. Athena Owen Nagel is an Associate Teaching Professor in the Department of Geosciences at Mississippi State University (MSU). She obtained her Ph. D in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, in 2014 and has over 10 years of experience in island and coastal karst, and karst morphometric research at MSU. She has researched karst in more than 4 different countries, including several islands in the Bahamas, Mallorca, Spain, Barbados, and Curacao. Dr. Nagel has published and presented on several different projects including morphometric comparisons of coastal cave types, the discovery of biofilms in Bahamian pseudokarst, and karst distribution and formation history along the coastline of Mallorca. Outside of karst Dr. Nagel also has an interest in Geoscience Education especially in distance learning. She has presented and published on many topics about improving online education in the geoscienses. She is currently a faculty associate for the Center for Teaching and Learning and is involved in numerous departmental and professional societies.

Education

• Ph.D., Mississippi State University, Department of Geosciences, 2014
• Dissertation: Investigation of macro and micro scale void spaces: Preservation, modeling and biofilm interactions.
• M.S., Mississippi State University, Department of Geosciences, 2007
• Thesis: Tafoni Cave in Quaternary Carbonate Eolianites: Examples from the Bahamas
• B.S., University of Central Missouri, Department of Biology and Earth Science, 2004.

Experience

• Geological Society of America, Member
• Karst Division Member
• Geoscience Education Division Member
• National Speleological Society Member
• Association of Women Geoscientist
• Gamma Theta Upsilon
• Sigma Gamma Epsilon
• Society of College Science Teachers
• National Association of Science Teachers
• Southeastern Division of the Association of American Geographers
• Mississippi Geological Society
• Mississippi Academy of Sciences
• National Earth Science Teachers Association

Research Interests

• Island and Coastal Karst Formation, Karst Morphometrics, Geographic Information Systems and Geoscience Education.

Teaching Areas

• GG4323/6323 Karst Processes and Landforms.
• GR 4313/6313 Advanced GIS
• GR 4333/6333 Remote Sensing of the Physical Environment
• GG 8333 Planetary Geology
• GR 4303/6303 Principles of GIS
• GG 6103 Geology Processes and Products
• GR 4813 Natural Hazards
• GG 1113 Survey of Earth Science I
• GG 1111 Earth Science Lab
• GG 8503 Landforms
• GR 8400 Field Methods in Geosciences: Local Field Methods
• Various TIG Field Methods Courses Including: The Great Plains Storm Chase and Lake Superior and the Bahamas.

Honors/Professional Activities

• 2021 UPCEA National Professional, Continuing and Online Educator Award
• 2020 UPCEA South Region Professional, Continuing and Online Educator Award
• 2020 Online Teaching Award, Center for Distance Education, Mississippi State University
• 2018 Quality Matters Certification.
• 2015 Member of the Maroon and Write Quality Enrichment Program
• 2007 GIS Certificate, Mississippi State University
• 2003-2004 Ronald E. McNair Scholar
• 2000-2001 Lambda Sigma Society

• Clary, R.M., Nagel, A.O., & Shows, E. (2020, February). Our state has a (geological) history: Leveraging Mississippi’s geology in an online historical geology course. Research presentation at the Mississippi Academy of Sciences, Biloxi, MS. (refereed)
• Clary, R.M., Owen Nagel, A., & Shows, E. (2020, October). Geology around me: Leveraging local environments in online introductory geology courses. Research presented at the Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, Montreal, Canada (virtual).
• Clary, R.M., Nagel, A.O., & Shows, E. (2020). Our state has a (geological) history: Leveraging Mississippi’s geology in an online historical geology course. Journal of the Mississippi Academy of Sciences, 65(1), 97.
• Clary, R.M., Owen Nagel, A., & Shows, E. (2020). Geology around me: Leveraging local environments in online introductory geology courses. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, 52 (6).
  doi: 10.1130/abs/2020AM-358064
• Nagel, A.O., & Clary, R.M. (2020). Google Earth in online sciences classrooms (Chapter 42, pp. 697-711). In J.J. Mintzes & E.M. Walter, Eds. Active learning in College Science: The Case for Evidence Based Practice. Berlin: Springer Nature. doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-33600-4_43
• Mylroie, J. E., Kambesis, P. N., Owen Nagel, A. M., Sumrall, J. B., Larson, E. B., Mylroie, J. R., and Lace, M. J., 2015, Flank margin cave development at Cala Pi and Cala Figuera, Mallorca Island, Spain.   In Glumac, B. and Savarese, M., eds., Proceedings of the 16th Symposium on the geology of the Bahamas and other carbonate regions.
• Kambesis, P. N., Mylroie, J. R., Mylroie, J. E., Larson, E. B., Owen Nagel, A. M., and Sumrall, J. B., 2015, Influence of karst denudation on the northwest coast of Curaçao.  In Glumac, B. and Savarese, M., eds., Proceedings of the 16th Symposium on the geology of the Bahamas and other carbonate regions.
• Owen, A. M., 2013, Tafoni Development in the Bahamas, In Coastal Karst Landforms, Lace, M. J., and Mylroie, J. E., eds., 2013, Coastal Karst Landforms. Coastal Research Library 5, Springer, Dordrecht, 111-126.
• Mylroie, J.E. Kambesis, P. N. Owen, A.M., Sumrall, J. B. Larson, E. B., Mylroie, J.R. 2013 Flank Margin Cave Development at Cala Pi and Cala Giguera, Mallorca Island Spain. In Press in Proceedings of the 15th Symposium on the geology of the Bahamas and other carbonate regions,
• Mylroie, J. R., Mylroie, J. E., Infnate, L. R., Owen, A,. M., 2012, Flank margin caves as high resolution sea-level indicators: Studia Universitatis Babeşs-Bolyai, Geology, Special Issue 2012, 39-41.