It's been great. I really enjoy getting the chance to do scientific research at a higher level than just a class lab. Even when things don't always work out right, you actually learn more than you thought you would. Working with Guy Hovis, Lafayette s John H. Markle Professor of geology and head of the department, he is researching the thermodynamic properties of minerals and related substances. As you heat them, they expand, and we want to see how thermal expansion affects the chemical composition of these substances.
Minerals buried in the earth are at elevated temperatures.
We're trying to simulate these conditions at the earth's surface. Hovis and Wattles are also conducting experiments on substituting ions in mineral structures to understand how the structures react to chemical substitution. I've been replacing potassium in the rocks with rubidium to see what the effects are. The project has taken Wattles and Hovis to the University of Cambridge in England to make use of facilities there. It was interesting research.