 | Professor Sun-ichiro Karato is shown in the newly renovated facility in Kline Geology Laboratory devoted to high-pressure geophysics. |
Renovated facilities boost scientists' study of Earth
The study of the Earth, of the aqueous and gaseous envelopes that encompass it and the forces that impinge upon it are the province of the diverse community of scientists, researchers and students who make up Yale's Department of Geology and Geophysics.
In an effort to strengthen its position as a top-notch research and educational hub for scientists, the department has been busy remodeling itself, bringing together growing areas of interdisciplinary study and investigation.
Ten new faculty members have joined the department over the last five years -- four at a senior level and six in the tenure track, positioning the department as a leader in the field. (See related story.)
Faculty renewal has led to a significant increase in the number of postdoctoral researchers and graduate students in the department and has been coupled with an ongoing renewal of its computer and laboratory facilities.
A new isotope laboratory with four mass >spectrometers has been installed in the recently built Environmental Sciences Center (ESC). Directed by Professor Danny Rye, this facility provides isotopic analysis to numerous departments both on and off campus.
The new ESC building provides state-of-the-art housing for the collections of Yale's Peabody Museum of Natural History and integrates them into the geology department's teaching and research missions. Work has begun on a renovated office and laboratory space in ESC for Professor Derek Briggs' research on the evolution and soft tissue morphology of half-billion year old invertebrates.
Currently, Kline Geology Laboratory (KGL) is a main focus of renovation activity. An advanced scanning electron microscope facility, to be overseen by Professor Shun-ichiro Karato's group, is under construction in Rm. 321. In addition, work will soon get underway in the basement on a new ceramic grinding operation to support Karato's high pressure geophysics laboratory.
A modern optical microscope lab is being constructed in Rm. 212 of KGL. This facility will be jointly coordinated by Professor Mark Brandon and Assistant Professors David Evans and Peter Reiners.
And, finally, in response to a continuing need for precision-made, custom apparatus, the Department of Geology and Geophysics' machine shop is being relocated from the basement of the Peabody Museum to a room adjacent to the department's rock preparatory laboratory in Rm. 26 of KGL.
According to Leo Hickey, chair of the ,Department of Geology and Geophysics, "All of these developments have rejuvenated the traditional strengths of our department in geochemistry, tectonics, paleontology, geophysics, and Earth's oceans and atmosphere, and ensure that our nearly two centuries-long conversation with and about the Earth can be carried on with renewed vigor and greater understanding."
-- By Jacqueline Weaver
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In Focus: Geology and Geophysics
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