Developing Science and Community through Isotopic Inquiry

Presented by Ryan Mathur

Beyond the scientific functions of defining Earth processes and fingerprinting sources of materials, the value of stable and radiogenic isotope analyses extends to the cultivation of both cultural knowledge and collaborative relationships. This discussion of the investigation of bronze artifacts from central Europe and China, silver artifacts from Spain, stone tools from the northeastern United States, and the American copper cent, demonstrates how scientific extraction technologies and different cultural interactions evolved. The progression—from artifact extraction, to mineral acquisition from museum collections, to geochemical analyses, to the dissemination of findings to broader communities—illustrates the highly integrative nature of scientific discovery.

About Ryan Mathur
Ryan Mathur is professor and chair of Geology at Juniata College. He earned a B.A. in history and geology from Juniata College in 1997 and Ph.D. in economic geology and isotope geochemistry from the University of Arizona in 2000. Working on a large variety of domestic and international ore deposits, his research focuses on the geochronology of sulfide minerals and transition metal isotope geochemistry. His projects span a diverse range of disciplines including economic geology, archeology, history, geochronology, hydrogeology, environmental geology, petrography, and pedology.