Dr. Michael Smith
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DeLoach 127 Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences University of North Carolina Wilmington 601 South College Road Wilmington, NC 28403-5944 Tel: 910 962-3496; Fax: 910 962-7077 email: smithmsATuncw.edu,Personal Webpage |
Expertise:
Mineralogy, Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology
Education:
Ph.D. Washington University, 1990
Teaching:
Dr. Smith teaches GLY 120 Environmental Geology, GLY 201 Mineralogy, GLY 402 Advanced (often called Obstacle) Mineralogy, GLY 470 Field Course in Geology, GLY 513 Advanced Igneous Petrology, and GLY 572 Geochemistry.
Research Interests:
Michael Smith's academic research ranges from the study of mid-Proterozoic crustal rocks in west Greenland to the 2.2 Ma old volcanic rocks of the upper Yellowstone Valley to the petrography and provenance of historic and prehistoric ceramic sherds. Other research interests include the technological and geological history of the gold mining rush(es) in the southeastern United States from 1799 to 1864 with Dr. M. Elizabeth Hines and the sometimes erratic development of the North Carolina Geological surveys. For entertainment, he is continuing the tracing of the William Alonzo Allen family history (author of the"Sheep Eaters" and "Adventures with Indians and Game, or Twenty Years in the Rocky Mountains") as well as working with the Rothschild Archives and the Ceramic Petrology working group (British Museum) on the sources (e.g., Spain, Bulgaria, Romania, Mexico, or Peru) and the elusive movement of quicksilver (mercury) to the gold mining operations in the American South.
