An Associate Professor of Geology, Fenton teaches Applied Geochemistry, Climate Change Science, Computer Applications in Geology, Introduction to Physical Geology (Field Based and Lecture Based), Introduction to Physical Geology Laboratory (Field Based and Lecture Based), Geology of Colorado, and Weather and Climate.
Fenton tackles Earth-surface field problems with her ‘toolbox’ of geochemical, geochronological, and geospatial-analysis techniques and through collaborations with students and colleagues. Whenever possible, she teaches students through hands-on field studies, which complement her classroom lectures.
Fenton has experience teaching and mentoring at both smaller liberal arts schools and larger research institutions. She has mentored students in field-based projects based in the western United States, Norway, and Argentina.
Fenton is currently the principal investigator on the SPICE project, a field- and laboratory-based research project on a 70,000 year-old lava flow in northern Arizona. The SPICE project is helping to refine the production rates of terrestrial cosmogenic nuclides. Cosmogenic nuclides are used extensively to study the timing and rates of landscape evolution related both to climate change and tectonics. Fenton is also collaborating with Dr. David Marchetti (Western Colorado University) using stable oxygen and hydrogen isotopes to research latitudinal and altitudinal effects on sources of precipitation on the western slope of Colorado.
