WKU Geology Student Studying Allende Meteorite

June 06, 2007

Bowling Green, Ky. - Western Kentucky University junior Chelsea Brunner, a geology major from Louisville, was chosen in a national competition to participate in a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program at the American Museum of Natural History in New York for eight weeks this summer.

The project is titled “Classification and Measurement of Inclusions in the Allende Meteorite.” Brunner will be working with Dr. Denton S. Ebel in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Division of Physical Sciences, examining calcium-rich and aluminum-rich inclusions (CAIs) in the Allende meteorite. Approximately two tons of this carbonaceous chondrite meteorite fell and were recovered from a strewn field in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico, in 1969. The inclusions they will be studying originally formed as free-floating aggregates of mineral dust, some of which were partially or fully melted to form droplets in the solar nebula.

Brunner will study different types of meteorites in the museum’s collection, hypotheses for their formation, and why the measurements of the inclusions are important in testing such hypotheses. She will also gain important expertise using the Scanning Electron Microscope and Electron Microprobe, in addition to image analysis software.

“The quality of WKU's geology program continues to grow as exciting opportunities open up for students like Chelsea,” said Dr. David Keeling, Geography and Geology department head. “The department has had tremendous success in recent years placing geology students in competitive REU programs and field camps, and has seen a 100 percent growth in enrollment over the past five years in the B.S. and B.A. geology majors.”

More information on REU opportunities at the American Museum of Natural History is available online at http://research.amnh.org/physsci/reu.html

More WKU news is available at www.wku.edu. If you’d like to receive WKU news via e-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.

For information, contact Andrew Wulff at (270) 745-5976.