Dr. Vincent Salters, Director of Geochemistry program at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory and Professor in the Department of Earth Atmospheric Science at FSU, has received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program award in Geochemistry to Germany for the 2024-2025 academic year from the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.
Dr. Salters will use the Fulbright opportunity to visit and collaborate with Dr. Stracke at the Institute for Mineralogy at the University of Münster. Dr. Stracke graduated from FSU in 2001; Dr. Salters was his advisor. The research will be concentrated on the Earth’s mantle and fractionation due to mid-ocean ridge volcanism. The Earth is continually evolving and the, by mass, far most important fractionation is related to mid-ocean ridge volcanism which results in a depletion of the fusible components in the mantle. In the last years both Salters and Stracke discovered through analyses of radiogenic hafnium isotopes that most of the mantle is more depleted then was previously assumed. Mantle material ascends and melts under a ridge and thus becomes depleted. The research show that some of this depleted material is making this ascent again, but this time is depleted in fusible components and will yield very little melt. This has far-reaching consequences on the mass balance of the Earth’s silicate reservoirs, the pace and overturn rate of the mantle as well as on the explanation of the formation of the ocean crust and its morphology. The research conducted through this Fulbright program is to try to quantify the mass of the different mantle reservoirs and constrain the evolution of the Earth. The analytical work will be focused on the analysis of mantle materials either brought up by volcanic eruptions, exposed to the Earth’s surface by faulting or samples from drilling expeditions.
Dr. Salters has been at FSU since 1994 and was originally recruited by the NHMFL. His general research interests are the element cycling resulting from solid Earth differentiation processes; his research is mostly NSF funded.. Among his other awards is Fellowship of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) as well as being editor of two high profile journals of the AGU. Dr. Salters served as Chair of EOAS from 2019-2022, during the height of the Covid years as his department was moving into a new building.
Fulbright U.S. Scholars are faculty, researchers, administrators, and established professionals teaching or conducting research in affiliation with institutes abroad. Fulbright Scholars engage in cutting-edge research and expand their professional networks, often continuing research collaborations started abroad and laying the groundwork for forging future partnerships between institutions. Upon returning to their home countries, institutions, labs, and classrooms, they share their stories and often become active supporters of international exchange, inviting foreign scholars to campus and encouraging colleagues and students to go abroad.
Since 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided over 400,000 talented and accomplished students, scholars, teachers, artists, and professionals of all backgrounds with the opportunity to study, teach, and conduct research abroad.
Fulbrighters exchange ideas, build people-to-people connections, and work to address complex global challenges. Notable Fulbrighters include 62 Nobel Laureates, 89 Pulitzer Prize winners, 80 MacArthur Fellows, 41 heads of state or government, and thousands of leaders across the private, public, and non-profit sectors.
Over 800 individuals teach or conduct research abroad through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program annually. In addition, over 2,000 Fulbright U.S. Student Program participants-recent college graduates, graduate students, and early career professionals-participate in study/research exchanges or as English teaching assistants in local schools abroad each year.
Fulbright is a program of the U.S. Department of State, with funding provided by the U.S. Government. Participating governments and host institutions, corporations, and foundations around the world also provide direct and indirect support to the Program, which operates in over 160 countries worldwide.
