SUNY Online Teaching Ambassador 2024: Buffalo State – Gary Solar

Gary S. Solar, Ph.D. joined the faculty at Buffalo State University in fall 2000 after receiving his Ph.D. in Geology in 1999 from the University of Maryland, and one year as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Virginia Tech. Dr. Solar’s area of expertise is in field-based structural geology, petrography and petrology of metamorphic and igneous rocks and regions. Dr. Solar is an expert in Appalachian tectonic history, with a specialty in Maine, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania rocks. He has served Buffalo State University as department chair from 2006-2015, and 2020 to present, including as the inaugural chair of the new Department of Geosciences. He has served the geological community as Chair of the Northeastern Section of the Geological Society of America, and as President of the New York State Geological Association. Dr. Solar has mentored more than 80 independent undergraduate research projects including 22 Buffalo State Office of Undergraduate Research Summer Fellowship recipients. He teaches courses in “hard rock” geology including Mineralogy, Petrology, Structural Geology, and Tectonics.

Dr. Solar’s online teaching spans more than a decade, including a fully online-asynchronous version of Introductory Geology that he has offered consistently since 2010. He has been the recipient of several teaching awards including the Geological Society of America’s Biggs Award for Excellence in Teaching in the Earth Sciences, the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, and the Buffalo State President’s Awards for Excellence in Teaching and as an Undergraduate Research Mentor.