Dr. Leslie Melim, shown during an exploration of Rattlesnake Room, in Cottonwood Cave, New Mexico, will present an intriguing public lecture and separate classroom presentation on caves.
Western Illinois University Geology Professor Leslie Melim will present a public lecture, "The Secret Life of Speleothems (Caves): It’s Dead . . . but was it ever Alive?" on Friday, Oct. 13, at 1 p.m. in Houghton Hall Room 028.
In her talk, Dr. Melim will discuss the intertwined relationship between life, or microbes, and cave features, such as stalactites – mineral deposits which grow down from the cave ceiling – and cave pearls. She specializes in carbonate sedimentology and diagenesis, dolomitization, sedimentary petrography, sedimentary geochemistry, low-temperature isotope geochemistry and geomicrobiology of cave formations.
Melim is a sedimentary geologist and an expert on what happens to sediments after burial, on their way to becoming rocks, as well as an exemplary educator. She will also give a lecture to GEO 400 Stratigraphy, taught by Department of Geology and Environmental Sciences Associate Professor Thomas Hegna, discussing recrystallization in sediments – integrating some of her own innovative research.
“Her surprisingly low-tech work on recrystallization has caused us to rethink how quickly recrystallization can happen – from multiple decades to a few months, in the right environment,” Dr. Hegna remarked.
“Leslie's research on the involvement of microbes in the formation of cave structures has some surprising links with astrobiology – namely, how can we tell if life was involved in the formation of a sedimentary rock – on Earth or another planet?” Hegna added.
A former colleague of Hegna when he taught at Western Illinois University, Melim has a Ph.D. in Geology from Southern Methodist University, with an emphasis on carbonate diagenesis and sedimentology, a M.S. in Geology from Western Washington University and a B.A. in History, with a Geology minor, from Whitman College. She has also been a co-author with Hegna on recent publications.
The lecture, sponsored by the Department of Geology and Environmental Sciences, is free and open to the campus and public. The Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences provided funding support.
