Mineralogical Society of America Distinguished Lecturer, Dr. Lutz Nasdala, will speak at Concord University on Monday, Nov. 17, 2014. His lecture begins at 4 p.m. in Room 400 of the Science Building. There is no admission charge and the community is invited to attend.
Dr. Nasdala is a professor for mineralogy and spectroscopy at the Institute of Mineralogy and Crystallography, University of Vienna, Austria. The title of his lecture is “Natural radiation damage in minerals: What can we learn?”
Radiation damage in minerals may lead to dramatic changes in physical properties and a decrease in chemical resistance. This is relevant to uranium-lead dating as well as long-term immobilization of nuclear waste, for example. Radiation damage in minerals can be studied in natural and synthetic materials, irradiation experiments, and mathematical simulations. Samples can be studied using several micro-analytical and spectroscopic techniques. Dr. Nasdala’s lecture will focus on spectroscopic studies of natural minerals and ion-irradiated synthetic analogs, beginning with an introduction to processes by which radiation-damage accumulates.
Dr. Nasdala received his Ph.D. from the Institute of Theoretical Physics, Freiberg Mining Academy (Germany). He has held PostDocs at the University of Hawaii, Curtin University of Technology in Australia, and the University of Vienna. Since 2009, he has served as head of the Institute of Mineralogy and Crystallography in Vienna.
Professor Nasdala’s main research interests include internal textures of minerals, crystallographic defects, and phenomena of radiation damage. An expert in the application of non-destructive micro-analysis techniques to the characterization of gems and their enhancement, he provides spectroscopy teaching and training on an international scale. He has organized and conducted short-courses in Bogota and Beijing, and has delivered lectures in more than 10 countries worldwide.
Dr. Nasdala is being brought to Concord by the MSA Distinguished Lecturer Series. His current lecture tour includes the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, Miami University in Ohio, Concord University, and Queens College in New York.
For additional information on Dr. Nasdala’s upcoming lecture at Concord, please contact Dr. Stephen Kuehn, assistant professor in the Division of Mathematics, Science and Health, at sckuehn@concord.edu or 304-384-6322.
