Anne Haws

Track
Research Frontiers

Faculty Mentor
Mark Caddick
Professor of Geosciences

Briefly describe the research project you are planning to contribute to and lead as a postdoctoral associate at Virginia Tech. What is the problem you are addressing? What is the expected impact of your work?
I am a geologist, and I primarily work on metamorphic rocks that form during collisions between tectonic plates. Specifically, I am interested in how fluids like water and carbon dioxide are transported through the Earth's crust and upper mantle in these settings, and how those fluids chemically interact with surrounding rocks. These processes are associated with geohazards like earthquakes and volcanism, the transfer of carbon dioxide between the solid Earth and the atmosphere that helps maintain Earth's habitability, and the transport of critical elements such as the rare Earth elements. The goal of my postdoc project is to improve our ability to model the chemical interactions that occur between fluids and rocks in metamorphic systems, and assess their impacts on the global cycling of fluids and elements of scientific and societal interest.

Why did you choose to pursue postdoctoral training at Virginia Tech?
I chose Virginia Tech so that I could work with and learn from my mentor, Professor Mark Caddick, and his group. Virginia Tech also has a range of analytical facilities, such as the Nanoscale Characterization and Fabrication Laboratory, with instruments that are necessary for my research. Furthermore, the Department of Geosciences has an excellent reputation, and I look forward to interacting with and learning from other faculty and their research groups.

What are you most looking forward to as you begin in this fellowship at Virginia Tech?
I am most looking forward to further expanding my research skillset. The project I'm working on brings together techniques that I am familiar with as well as other methods with which I have less experience. I'm excited to combine these as part of the new modeling approach we are working on, and to start applying this model to real fluid-rock systems.