Cara Santelli, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Dept. of Earth & Environmental Sciences, U of Minnesota
Seminar Lab Subject:
Minerals and Microbes and Mining...Oh My!
Seminar Lab Location :
In-person only at U of Minnesota Keller Hall Room 3-210
Address: 200 Union St. SE, Minneapolis MN (parking ramp is next door)
Lecture start time 7:00 PM CT
Seminar Lab Details:
Summary:
Despite their small size, microorganisms have a profound impact on the Earth's surface. Their diverse metabolisms and abilities to tolerate extreme conditions also make them valuable for applications to improve environmental health in impacted areas as well as to extract important metals and nutrients in ways that can be much cleaner and more sustainable than historically-used approaches. In this presentation, you will learn about research in the Santelli Geomicrobiology and Bioremediation group that examines how microorganisms can detoxify and concentrate metals of economic value, the applications for remediating polluted environments, and the opportunities for developing more sustainable biotechnologies for mining.
Biography:
Cara Santelli grew up on the Iron Range in northern Minnesota. She spent her childhood traveling to the northern shores of Lake Superior, where she fell in love with rocks and minerals. It wasn't until college that she realized how fortunate she had been to have grown up on a Banded Iron Formation. During her undergrad in Geology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, she worked in a research lab that examined how microbial processes can both weather and precipitate minerals and how these processes impact environmental health. This work led her to complete her PhD in Geomicrobiology at MIT and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution where she studied microbial life at the seafloor. Cara then moved to Harvard University for a postdoctoral research position where she examined the impact of microorganisms and fungi on wastewaters from coal mining. Her enthusiasm for minerals then brought her to the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History as a minerals and gems curator before deciding to head back to academia and Minnesota where she is now an Associate Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Minnesota. She has a very active research group focused on the environmental impacts of biogeochemical cycling of nutrients and contaminants.
Cara Santelli, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Dept. of Earth & Environmental Sciences, U of Minnesota
Seminar Lab Subject:
Minerals and Microbes and Mining...Oh My!
Seminar Lab Location :
In-person only at U of Minnesota Keller Hall Room 3-210
Address: 200 Union St. SE, Minneapolis MN (parking ramp is next door)
Lecture start time 7:00 PM CT
Seminar Lab Details:
Summary:
Despite their small size, microorganisms have a profound impact on the Earth's surface. Their diverse metabolisms and abilities to tolerate extreme conditions also make them valuable for applications to improve environmental health in impacted areas as well as to extract important metals and nutrients in ways that can be much cleaner and more sustainable than historically-used approaches. In this presentation, you will learn about research in the Santelli Geomicrobiology and Bioremediation group that examines how microorganisms can detoxify and concentrate metals of economic value, the applications for remediating polluted environments, and the opportunities for developing more sustainable biotechnologies for mining.
Biography:
Cara Santelli grew up on the Iron Range in northern Minnesota. She spent her childhood traveling to the northern shores of Lake Superior, where she fell in love with rocks and minerals. It wasn't until college that she realized how fortunate she had been to have grown up on a Banded Iron Formation. During her undergrad in Geology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, she worked in a research lab that examined how microbial processes can both weather and precipitate minerals and how these processes impact environmental health. This work led her to complete her PhD in Geomicrobiology at MIT and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution where she studied microbial life at the seafloor. Cara then moved to Harvard University for a postdoctoral research position where she examined the impact of microorganisms and fungi on wastewaters from coal mining. Her enthusiasm for minerals then brought her to the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History as a minerals and gems curator before deciding to head back to academia and Minnesota where she is now an Associate Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Minnesota. She has a very active research group focused on the environmental impacts of biogeochemical cycling of nutrients and contaminants.
Kent Kirkby, Ph.D., Teaching Professor, Dept. of Earth & Environmental Sciences, U of Minnesota
Seminar Lab Subject:
From Sparta to St. Paul, the Roles Earth Processes Played in Our Past
Seminar Lab Location :
In-person only at U of Minnesota Keller Hall Room 3-210
Address: 200 Union St. SE, Minneapolis MN (parking ramp is next door)
Lecture start time 7:00 PM CT
Seminar Lab Details:
KIRKBY BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
Kent Kirkby is a teaching professor in Earth Sciences at the University of Minnesota. His interest in Earth Science was sparked at the age of seven by a friend’s gift of three plastic dinosaurs. The wisdom of this early career choice was confirmed when Kent got to spend much of his graduate education living in a mountain lion’s cave, halfway up a Chihuahuan Desert cliff with a magnificent view of western sunsets. Although originally trained as a carbonate geologist, since coming to the University of Minnesota, Kent’s activities have focused on educational research; developing and evaluating more effective teaching methods – often ones that revolve about storytelling. He is particularly fascinated by the intersection of Earth processes and human history. Consequently, while his course topics range from dinosaurs and volcanoes to invasive species and pandemic diseases, all integrate the Earth and our history. Although born in Wisconsin, after nearly thirty years at the University of Minnesota, and with the patient help of his two sons, Kent no longer tends to think of gophers as remarkably small badgers. Having been lucky enough to marry his best friend, they now share their home with three cats and a decent-sized green aluminum Brontosaurus.
From Sparta to St. Paul, the Roles Earth Processes Played in Our Past
Our history is not solely a result of human activity, but the Earth’s as well. While violent volcanic eruptions and catastrophic earthquakes highlight the Earth’s role in our past, climate change has had even greater impacts on our history. But lost in the shuffle, other less dramatic processes play important but often overlooked roles. Consequently, let’s take some time to explore the impacts of an often-unnoticed earth process that affected disparate parts of our past, from the expansion of the Greek and Roman empires, through the rise of pandemic diseases and organized crime, to past American refugee camps and recent civil unrest in downtown St. Paul. That will be the path we will follow Monday evening.
Kent Kirkby, Ph.D., Teaching Professor, Dept. of Earth & Environmental Sciences, U of Minnesota
Seminar Lab Subject:
From Sparta to St. Paul, the Roles Earth Processes Played in Our Past
Seminar Lab Location :
In-person only at U of Minnesota Keller Hall Room 3-210
Address: 200 Union St. SE, Minneapolis MN (parking ramp is next door)
Lecture start time 7:00 PM CT
Seminar Lab Details:
KIRKBY BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
Kent Kirkby is a teaching professor in Earth Sciences at the University of Minnesota. His interest in Earth Science was sparked at the age of seven by a friend’s gift of three plastic dinosaurs. The wisdom of this early career choice was confirmed when Kent got to spend much of his graduate education living in a mountain lion’s cave, halfway up a Chihuahuan Desert cliff with a magnificent view of western sunsets. Although originally trained as a carbonate geologist, since coming to the University of Minnesota, Kent’s activities have focused on educational research; developing and evaluating more effective teaching methods – often ones that revolve about storytelling. He is particularly fascinated by the intersection of Earth processes and human history. Consequently, while his course topics range from dinosaurs and volcanoes to invasive species and pandemic diseases, all integrate the Earth and our history. Although born in Wisconsin, after nearly thirty years at the University of Minnesota, and with the patient help of his two sons, Kent no longer tends to think of gophers as remarkably small badgers. Having been lucky enough to marry his best friend, they now share their home with three cats and a decent-sized green aluminum Brontosaurus.
From Sparta to St. Paul, the Roles Earth Processes Played in Our Past
Our history is not solely a result of human activity, but the Earth’s as well. While violent volcanic eruptions and catastrophic earthquakes highlight the Earth’s role in our past, climate change has had even greater impacts on our history. But lost in the shuffle, other less dramatic processes play important but often overlooked roles. Consequently, let’s take some time to explore the impacts of an often-unnoticed earth process that affected disparate parts of our past, from the expansion of the Greek and Roman empires, through the rise of pandemic diseases and organized crime, to past American refugee camps and recent civil unrest in downtown St. Paul. That will be the path we will follow Monday evening.
Christian Teyssier, Ph.D., Professor, Gibson Chair in Geoscience, Dept. of Earth & Environmental Sciences, U of Minnesota
Seminar Lab Subject:
What’s New with Plate Tectonics?
Seminar Lab Location :
In-person only at U of Minnesota Keller Hall Room 3-210
Address: 200 Union St. SE, Minneapolis MN (parking ramp is next door)
Lecture start time 7:00 PM CT
Seminar Lab Details:
Summary:My talk consists of two parts. The first describes recent advances in understanding of plate tectonics as we see it today, including the formation of oceanic core complexes at slow-spreading mid-ocean ridges, the concept of subduction factory at convergent margins, and the role of partial melting in continental collision. The second part of the talk will address the onset of plate tectonics on Earth. There is vigorous debate today about when plate tectonics began. For some, plate tectonics has been active all along since the Hadean (earliest planetary dynamics), but for others, plate tectonics started 3 billion years ago or even only 1 billion years ago. I will attempt to clarify the elements of this debate using new data from Hadean time, geological observations of classic Archean terranes, and the value of plate-tectonic markers, such as preserved high-pressure rocks that are found only in modern subduction systems (younger than 1 billion years).
Presenter biography:
Education:
Ph.D., 1986, Monash University, Australia
Diplôme d'Etudes Approfondies, 1981, Université de Montpellier II, France
Maîtrise es Sciences, 1980, Université de Montpellier II, France
Positions:
University of Minnesota
1997 - present: Professor
• 2018 - 2023: George and Orpha Gibson Chair of Geoscience
• 2003 - present: Academy of Distinguished Teachers (UMN)
1991 - 1997: Associate Professor
1985 - 1991: Assistant Professor
Sabbatical and other leaves:
2006- 08: University of Lausanne, Switzerland - Professor
03/98: University of Graz, Austria (invited)
04/97-06/97: ETH - Zürich, Switzerland (invited)
09/96-03/97: University Montpellier II, France (invited)
09/91-08/92: University Montpellier II, France (McKnight Land-Grant Professor)
Christian Teyssier, Ph.D., Professor, Gibson Chair in Geoscience, Dept. of Earth & Environmental Sciences, U of Minnesota
Seminar Lab Subject:
What’s New with Plate Tectonics?
Seminar Lab Location :
In-person only at U of Minnesota Keller Hall Room 3-210
Address: 200 Union St. SE, Minneapolis MN (parking ramp is next door)
Lecture start time 7:00 PM CT
Seminar Lab Details:
Summary:My talk consists of two parts. The first describes recent advances in understanding of plate tectonics as we see it today, including the formation of oceanic core complexes at slow-spreading mid-ocean ridges, the concept of subduction factory at convergent margins, and the role of partial melting in continental collision. The second part of the talk will address the onset of plate tectonics on Earth. There is vigorous debate today about when plate tectonics began. For some, plate tectonics has been active all along since the Hadean (earliest planetary dynamics), but for others, plate tectonics started 3 billion years ago or even only 1 billion years ago. I will attempt to clarify the elements of this debate using new data from Hadean time, geological observations of classic Archean terranes, and the value of plate-tectonic markers, such as preserved high-pressure rocks that are found only in modern subduction systems (younger than 1 billion years).
Presenter biography:
Education:
Ph.D., 1986, Monash University, Australia
Diplôme d'Etudes Approfondies, 1981, Université de Montpellier II, France
Maîtrise es Sciences, 1980, Université de Montpellier II, France
Positions:
University of Minnesota
1997 - present: Professor
• 2018 - 2023: George and Orpha Gibson Chair of Geoscience
• 2003 - present: Academy of Distinguished Teachers (UMN)
1991 - 1997: Associate Professor
1985 - 1991: Assistant Professor
Sabbatical and other leaves:
2006- 08: University of Lausanne, Switzerland - Professor
03/98: University of Graz, Austria (invited)
04/97-06/97: ETH - Zürich, Switzerland (invited)
09/96-03/97: University Montpellier II, France (invited)
09/91-08/92: University Montpellier II, France (McKnight Land-Grant Professor)
