Laura Bilenker headshot
Laura Bilenker
Department of Geosciences
Assistant Professor

Research Areas: Economic Geology, Experimental Petrology, Geochemistry (especially non-traditional stable isotopes), Igneous Processes, Analytical Development (multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry)

Office: 2079 Beard Eaves Coliseum

Lab: 2129B Beard Eaves Coliseum

Address: 2050 Beard Eaves Coliseum
Auburn, AL 36849

Phone: (334) 844-4988

Lab Phone: (334) 844-4343

Fax: (334) 844-4295

Email: ldb0036@auburn.edu


Education
Ph.D., Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of Michigan
2015
M.S., Earth Sciences, University of California, Riverside
2011
B.S., Geology, University of Maryland
2008


Professional Employment
Assistant Professor, Auburn University
2018 - Present
Postdoctoral Fellow, University of British Columbia
2016 - 2018
Visiting Assistant Professor, Bucknell University
Fall 2015


Research and Teaching Interests

I use geochemical tools to understand the formation and alteration history of ore deposits by using both field-based and experimental methods. In particular, I am interested in using isotopes (especially transition metal stable isotopes like Fe) to track ore-forming processes. I am in the process of building an experimental petrology lab within the Department of Geosciences that will house high-temperature furnaces and pressure vessels capable of simulating the conditions within and near a magma chamber. This lab will provide a unique and necessary complement to our field-based ore deposit studies.

I am looking for graduate and undergraduate students interested in performing or assisting with research in Economic Geology and Geochemistry! Please feel free to send me an email at any time.


Selected Publications

  1. Bilenker L.D., Scoates J.S., Weis D., Perry E. (2018) The application of stable Fe isotopes to magmatic sulfide systems: constraints on the Fe isotope composition of magmatic pyrrhotite. Economic Geology, Scientific Communications 113, 1181-1192, doi: 10.5382/econgeo.2018.4586.
  2. Bilenker L.D., VanTongeren J.A., Lundstrom C.C., Simon A.C. (2017) Iron Isotope Systematics of the Upper and Upper Main Zones of the Bushveld Complex, South Africa. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst. 18, doi:10.1002/2016GC006660.
  3. Bilenker L.D., Romano G.Y., McKibben M.A. (2016) Kinetics of Sulfide Mineral Oxidation in Seawater: Implications for Acid Generation during in situ Mining of Seafloor Hydrothermal Vent Deposits. Applied Geochemistry 75, 20-31, doi:10.1016/j.apgeochem.2016.10.010.
  4. Bilenker L.D., Simon A.C., Reich M., Lundstrom C.C. (2016) Fe-O stable isotope pairs elucidate a high-temperature origin of Chilean iron oxide-apatite deposits. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 177, 94-104, doi:10.1016/j.gca.2016.01.009.
  5. Knipping J.L., Bilenker L.D., Simon A.C., Reich M., Barra F., Deditius A., Lundstrom C.C., Bindeman I., Munizaga R. (2015) Magnetite-Bubble Suspensions Explain Origin of Giant Kiruna-type Iron Oxide-Apatite Deposits. Geology, doi:10.1130/G36650.1.






Last updated: 01/25/2023