Harvard University Mineralogical Museum Curator Will Give Lecture Today

Bill Metropolis, assistant curator at the Harvard University Geological and Mineralogical Museum, will present a lecture on “Minerals and History: A Look at America’s Oldest Mineral Collection” noon today in Van Wickle Hall room 108.

Free and open to the public, the talk was part of the Geology Department Seminar Series, held at noon most Fridays this spring, with lunch available at no charge to students and for $3 to faculty and staff.

Next Friday, Becky Dreibelbis ‘02, research associate at McLane Environmental in Princeton, N.J., an environmental consulting firm that specializes in groundwater modeling, will speak on “Volunteering with the Student Conservation Association: Geysers, Hot Springs, and Grizzlies in Yellowstone National Park.”

The Mineralogical and Geological Museum dates back to 1891. Its teaching and display collection of minerals was transformed into a research collection with the bequest of A. F. Holden, a 1888 graduate of Harvard. The mineral collection ranks among the world’s finest due to its broad representation, wealth of rare species, large number of specimens described in the scientific literature, and the quality of its display specimens. The systematic mineral collection and displays of rough and cut gemstones are the principal exhibits in the mineral gallery.

The collections of rocks and ores, worldwide in scope, were acquired primarily through the fieldwork of faculty and students. The Smith meteorite collection, acquired in 1883, gave the museum international standing in the study o f meteorites. Taken together, these various collections constitute an impressive sampling of the earth’s crust.

Previous talks in the geology series this spring have included:

• Katy White ’01, Earth Sciences teacher at William Annin Middle School in Basking Ridge N.J., “From the Department of Geology to the Classroom: Experience of a Recent Graduate,” April 18;
• Tim Grover, associate professor of geology at Castleton State College in Castleton, Vt., “Metamorphism, Intrusion, and Deformation along the Northwest Border Zone of Idaho Batholith”;
• Art Palmer, a leading expert on caves and director of the Water Resources Program at SUNY-Oneonta, on “America’s Largest Caves: Origin and Exploration”;
• Queens College Professor Alan Ludman on “Field Boots and Batteries: Geologic Mapping with GIS”;
• Charles Ver Straten of the Center for Stratigraphy and Paleontology at New York State Museum on “Mud, Sand, and Mountains: Looking at Sedimentary Rocks, Seeing Tectonics.”