Structural geologist Michelle Markley, Clare Boothe Luce Assistant Professor of Geology, studies how mountains are formed, and takes her students to nearby peaks of interest.
Structural geologist Michelle Markley likes to study mountains, specifically how they were formed. "I study how rocks get 'mushed,'" she says. "I look at rock deformation, at their folds and faults and how they get their texture, or fabric." Markley, who comes to the College with a newly minted Ph.D. in structural geology and tectonics from the University of Minnesota, is teaching structural geology this semester and will teach the introductory-level geology course next semester. She is Clare Boothe Luce Assistant Professor of Geology.
Markley, a native of the Washington, D.C., area and an Oberlin College graduate, had plenty of teaching experience during her graduate years and has already made some observations about MHC students. "I've seen that women here are very good at asking questions and getting the answers they want. I'd met MHC students before I came here, and this job was my first choice because I thought the students were great and that it would be a great place for both teaching and research."
Although new to the Pioneer Valley, Markley has already scoped out field trip and research possibilities. Her class has been out to see rock formations at the Quabbin Reservoir, on Skinner Mountain, and in Whately and Cummington, and will take six field trips during the semester. "This is a good area for field work at all levels," she says.
Markley's graduate research was on the Alps, in conjunction with her chief faculty adviser at Minnesota. To have the experience of running a project from conception to completion on her own, during graduate school Markley used a Fulbright Scholarship to study structure, sedimentology, and tectonics in New Zealand. A journal article based on her research on an active mountain belt on New Zealand's South Island will be published shortly. She's also studied the Canadian Rockies and the Appalachians, and has copublished several articles with more in the pipeline.
Markley is now switching her primary research interest from Europe to North America. "I hope to become a regional geologist specializing in the Appalachians. I've got a new project starting in Maine where I'm looking at big, ancient fault lines. What's on top used to be twenty kilometers deep." The Appalachian mountain belt arose from the collision of the North American and African continents, she explains, and is of great interest to geologists who map patterns of rocks in the field. Markley comes from a scientific family: her father is a rocket scientist with NASA and her mother recently retired from a career as an environmental attorney with the federal government. Before attending graduate school, Markley lived in Boston for a couple of years and worked for not-for-profit organizations concerned with environmental and peace and justice issues.
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