Dr. Michael Smith

Graduate Program Coordinator
Professor of Geology

Deloach 115C
Department of Geography and Geology
University of North Carolina at Wilmington
601 South College Road
Wilmington, NC 28403-5944
Tel: 910 962-3496; Fax: 910 962-7077
email:smithmsATuncw.edu, Personal Webpage

Education:
Ph.D. Washington University, 1990

Teaching:
Dr. Smith teaches GLY 120 Environmental Geology, GLY 201 Mineralogy, GLY 402 Advanced (often called Obstacle) Mineralogy, GLY 470 Field Course in Geology, GLY 513 Advanced Igneous Petrology, and GLY 572 Geochemistry.

Research Interests:
Michael Smith's academic research ranges from the study of mid-Proterozoic crustal rocks in west Greenland to the 2.2 Ma old volcanic rocks of the upper Yellowstone Valley to the petrology and provenance of historic and prehistoric ceramic sherds. Other research interests include the technological and geological history of the gold mining rush(es) in the southeastern United States from 1799 to 1864 with Dr. M. Elizabeth Hines and the sometimes erratic development of the North Carolina Geological surveys. For entertainment, he is continuing the tracing of the William Alonzo Allen family history (author of the"Sheep Eaters" and "Adventures with Indians and Game, or Twenty Years in the Rocky Mountains") as well as working with the Science and Mathematics Education Center (SMEC) at UNCW in the North Carolina Summer Ventures in Science and Mathematics program and other educational outreach activities.