The Techtonic Fall 2019

Welcome, Dr. Megan Duncan By Jessica DePaolis, PhD Student

Geosciences welcomes Dr. Megan Duncan, who joined the department this fall as an Assistant Professor of Petrology. Dr. Duncan discovered geology at a young age when her 8th grade science teacher simulated the three rock types with brownies and Rice Krispy treats. She realized that a career in the geosciences would tie in with her fascination with the planets, particularly Mars, and has been captivated ever since. As an undergraduate, she studied Geology at Clemson University. During her undergraduate field camp experience, she recognized her love for hard rocks (metamorphic and igneous rocks) and this experience fueled her interest in pursuing graduate school. She moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to pursue her M.S. degree in Earth and Planetary Science at the University of New Mexico, where she undertook a project using high pressure/

Dr. Megan Duncan

temperature experiments to study the effect of carbon on planetary magmas. These experiments use a multi-anvil press and piston cylinders to reach pressure ranges that can simulate conditions inside Earth, Mars, Venus, Mercury, the Moon, and asteroids. She then pursued an experimental Ph.D. at Rice University in Houston, where her advisor was a specialist in carbon. Her projects included studying carbon mobility in subduction zones and in the magma ocean of the early Earth. She really enjoyed focusing on how these processes could be applied elsewhere, beyond the Earth. During her research as a postdoctoral associate at the Carnegie Institution of Washington in Washington, D.C., she continued experimental studies of core formation on asteroids and the melted Mars to determine its mantle solidus. In a second postdoctoral position at UC Davis, she worked on dynamic, shock experiments (much different from the static experiments she was used to). This introduced new experience studying impact vaporization in the planet-building processes at extreme

high pressure-temperature conditions. As an assistant professor at Virginia Tech, Dr. Duncan hopes to understand the comparisons that can be made between Earth and the other terrestrial planets by tying her high pressure/temperature experiments (which she will continue in her own lab coming soon on the first floor of Derring) to other studies of planetary interiors, such as geodynamic models. She plans to focus on large- scale planetary processes, such as those in subduction zones; using high pressure geochemistry to understand melt flow in a mantle regime; determining mineral stability in different mantle environments; and studying core formation on smaller, asteroid-size planetary bodies. Dr. Duncan hopes to grow overlap between her research and other faculty in the department to build collaborations that will benefit the larger scientific field.

Dr. Megan Duncan at Mount St. Helens.

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