Rate My Professor Abigail Domagall

Abigail Domagall, PhD, is Professor of Geology in the School of Natural Sciences at Black Hills State University (BHSU) in Spearfish, South Dakota. She has held this position since her promotion from Associate Professor, a role she assumed in August 2007. Domagall directs the Environmental Physical Science (EPS) program, a broad interdisciplinary science degree with an emphasis in Geology. She earned her PhD in Geology, specializing in Volcanology, from the University at Buffalo in 2008. Her doctoral thesis, titled "On the emplacement of large-volume, evolved lavas: case studies in SW Idaho," examined the morphology and emplacement mechanisms of rhyolitic lava flows.

Domagall's research interests center on volcanology, particularly emplacement dynamics of large-volume evolved lavas, igneous petrology, geoheritage, and geoscience education. She conducts fieldwork in south-central Idaho to analyze rhyolitic deposits linked to the Yellowstone hotspot (8-12 million years old) and in Lanzarote, Canary Islands, studying features like ballistic blocks at Montaña Colorada. Collaborating with local fish hatcheries, she investigates fluvial geomorphology, trout redd locations in streams such as Spearfish Creek, Cleopatra Creek, and Iron Creek, and nitrogen gas saturation in karst springs. Key publications include "Nitrogen Gas Saturation in Karst Springs Varies Throughout the Day" (Journal of Water Resource and Protection, 2023), "Brown Trout Redd Locations in the Northernmost Section of Spearfish Creek in Spearfish, South Dakota, USA" (Natural Resources, 2022), "Morphology of Spearfish Creek, Lawrence County, South Dakota, USA" (2026), and conference papers like "Structural, Compositional, and Emplacement Analysis of the Horse Basin Rhyolite Unit Near Bruneau, Idaho" (Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, 2022). With 22 publications, many co-authored with undergraduates, she has 20 citations. Domagall teaches courses including Volcanology, Mineralogy, and Petrology; mentors students in National Science Foundation-funded research presented at Geological Society of America meetings; leads outreach to Spearfish Middle School; and serves on the BHSU Faculty Senate.