Floyd McCoy, Professor of Oceanography and Geology

Contact Information

Department of Natural Sciences
Imiloa 115
Windward Community College
45-720 Kea‘ahala Rd.
Kaneohe, HI 96744

Phone: 236-9115

Email: fmccoy@hawaii.edu

Personal Webpage: http://windward.hawaii.edu/facstaff/mccoy-f

Curriculum Vitae (PDF)

Office Hours - Fall, 2009

Monday: 11:00 – 12:30
Wednesday: 11:00 – 12:30
Thursday: 16:30-17:30

Class Schedule - Fall, 2009

• GG 103 - Geology of Hawaiian Islands (3)
                  TTh, 11:15am to 12:30pm, IMILOA 113, CRN 62196 - view syllabus
• GG 210 - Oahu Field Geology (1)
                  T, 1:30pm to 4:15pm, IMILOA 117, CRN 62303 - view syllabus
• GG 211 - Big Island Field Geology (1)
                  CRN 62304
• OCN 201 - Science of the Sea (3)
                  MW, 3:00pm to 4:15pm, IMILOA 117, CRN 62211 - view syllabus
• OCN 201 - Science of the Sea (3)
                  Th, 5:30pm to 8:15pm, IMILOA 117, CRN 62306 - view syllabus

Courses Taught

• GG 103 - Geology of Hawaiian Islands
• GG 210 - Oahu Field Geology
• GG 211 - Big Island Field Geology
• GG 214 - Kauai & Niihau Field Geology
• OCN 201 - Science of the Sea
• OCN 201L - Science of the Sea Laboratory

Campus Activities

• Aesthetics Committee

Education

• Ph.D. (1974)  Geological Sciences,  Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA  [Late Quaternary History of the E. Med. Sea]
• M.S. (1965)  Geological Sciences,  Univ. Hawaii, Honolulu, HI  [Geology of Ofu and Olosega, Manu’a, Samoa]
• B.S. (1962)  Geology, Univ. Hawaii, Honolulu, HI
• Primary and secondary education in Honoka’a, Lihue, and Hilo, Hawaii (T.H.)

Professional Activities and Affiliations

• Fellow, Geological Society of America
• Member, Archaeological Institute of America
• Member, Society for Hawaiian Archaeology

Research Interests

Mediterranean:

• geoarchaeological and geophysical surveys on Thera and at various archaeological sites (Greece)
• volcanology and regional effects of the Late Bronze Age eruption of Thera (Greece) in the eastern Mediterranean region
• paleoclimate of the eastern Mediterranean region
• sedimentology of tsunami deposits (Greece, Italy, Turkey)
• marine geological, geophysical and archaeological surveys of the Aegean and Mediterranean sea-floor

Hawaii:

• sedimentology of tsunami deposits
• production of hyaloclastites (black sand) by active lava flow entry into the ocean
• geoarchaeological and geophysical surveys

Recent Press

• Star-Bulletin, August 25, 2007

Favorite Food

• everything at the new Kalapawai market in Kailua
• Greek and Turkish dishes
• Thai cuisine

Favorite Place on the Island

• Kailua town

Favorite Quote

• “Civilization exists by geological consent, subject to change without notice” (Will Durant, American historian)

Favorite Books

• Memory and the Mediterranean, by Fernand Braudel
• The Peloponnesian War, by Donald Kagan (at WCC: DF229 .K34 2004)
• Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae, by Steven Pressfield
• The World Without Us, by Alan Weisman
• and any book by John McPhee

Most Interesting Job

• Doing geology at the buried Late Bronze Age city of Akrotiri, in Greece, uncovering evidence on how this ancient city was preserved then destroyed by volcanism 3600 years ago.