Dr. Seth Kruckenberg is awarded an NSF Earth Science Postdoctoral Fellowship to carry out a program of research and education at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. Dr. Kruckenberg will create quantitative models of compositional, fabric, and strain heterogeneities in the lithospheric mantle using different components observed in the Twin Sister mafic massif (like melt pathways, shear zones, and compositional variations of olivine rich and olivine+pyroxene rich rocks). The results from this investigation will be of broad tectonic interest and provide information on the naturally deformed mantle, as well as inform on the dynamic feedbacks of melt segregation and deformation partitioning in the upper mantle.
In addition, Dr. Kruckenberg will be integrating the research with three educational activities at the undergraduate level. First, he anticipates mentoring two undergraduate students in senior research projects. Second, as part of his career development, Dr. Kruckenberg also plans on participating in the NSF-sponsored Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning (Delta Program), which is based at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. Third, to maximize the impact of the scientific results of this study, he will develop a teaching module with Dr. Basil Tikoff (sponsoring scientist) that will inform of the results of this study in the context of field-based investigations of metamorphic terranes.
