Emily Hopper, Ph D
Emily works as a postdoctoral researcher at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University. She studies plate tectonics, using seismic waves to image and understand the current conditions and history of the deep parts of the plates. She got her PhD from Brown University in 2016, with a focus on tectonics in the contiguous U.S. – in particular, the formation of the southern Appalachians. Her undergraduate degree, from the University of Cambridge, England, was in Natural Sciences. Emily likes cats, baking, knitting, and rocks. Mostly rocks.
Description:
From her lab in New York City, Emily Hopper is studying a mystery of the American West. For hundreds of million of years, not much happened geologically to the Colorado Plateau – other than it mysteriously popping up from sea level to its current elevation of more than 5,000 feet. Nobody knows how (or even exactly when) this happened. Dr. Hopper studies plate tectonics, using seismic waves to get a snapshot of the deeper parts of the plate and find out what occured. We can’t drill deeper than a few miles, so seismology is one of the few ways we can get any information about what is happening in the Earth. ”Listening” tells us a lot about conditions deeper in the planet – what the rocks are made of, how hot they are, how wet they are, if there is some magma there. Knowing more about these conditions helps scientists like Emily understand what is happening to the plate – and how and why this affects events like volcanoes and earthquakes.
Location Details will be sent March 10
Light refreshments will be available
This event is held on Saturday, please remember to plan your commute/travel accordingly, as the MTA will likely be running with delays. To view the scheduled service changes, please visit:
http://alert.mta.infoPlease email
institutes@amnh.org with any questions.
Thank you.
