Rebecca Ann Lange is a professor of

experimental petrology Experimental petrology is the field of research concerned with experimentally determining the physical and chemical behavior of rocks and their constituents. Because there is no way to directly observe or measure deep earth processes, geochemist ...

, magmatism and volcanism at the University of Michigan. Her research investigates how magmatism has shaped the evolution of the Earth, as well as the formation of continental crust. She is a Fellow of the Mineralogical Society of America and was awarded the

F.W. Clarke Medal The F.W. Clarke Medal is an annual award presented by the Geochemical Society to an early-career scientist for a single outstanding contribution to geochemistry or cosmochemistry, published either as a single paper or a series of papers on a singl ...

in 1995.

Early life and education

Lange studied geology at the University of California, Berkeley. She earned her bachelor's degree in 1995, and remained there for her doctoral studies. She was a member of Sigma Xi. Lange completed her doctorate under the supervision of Ian S. E. Carmichael. Together they worked on the aurora volcanic field, which is located in the Mono Lake in the

Great Basin The Great Basin is the largest area of contiguous endorheic basin, endorheic watersheds, those with no outlets, in North America. It spans nearly all of Nevada, much of Utah, and portions of California, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, and Baja California ...

Research and career

Lange was a postdoctoral researcher at Princeton University where she worked with

Alexandra Navrotsky Alexandra Navrotsky (born 20 June 1943 in New York City) is a physical chemist in the field of nanogeoscience. She is an elected member of the United States National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and the American Philosophical Society (APS). She w ...

on the heat capacities of silicate liquids. Lange was appointed assistant professor at the University of Michigan in 1991 and was promoted to professor in 2004. Her research investigates how magmatism and volcanism have shaped the Earth. Lange studies the formation of the continental crust. She works on the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, a

neogene The Neogene ( ), informally Upper Tertiary or Late Tertiary, is a geologic period and system that spans 20.45 million years from the end of the Paleogene Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning of the present Quaternary Period Mya. ...

volcanic arc at the edge of the North American Plate. Here she is uncovering the eruption rates of magma, proportions of different types of magma and role of water. She created a thermodynamic model of the plagioclase-liquid exchange reaction. Lange's model contained calorimeteric and volumetric information for the liquid and crystalline components. Lange has since served on the

committee.

Awards and honours

Her awards and honours include: *1995 Awarded the

by the Geochemical Society *1997 University of Michigan Class of 1923 Memorial Teaching Award and John Dewey Award *2014 Geochemical Fellow *2016 Served as president of the Mineralogical Society of America

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lange, Rebecca Year of birth missing (living people) Living people University of Michigan faculty University of California, Berkeley alumni American geochemists American mineralogists Women mineralogists Fellows of the Mineralogical Society of America