April 30, 2019
NYC natural history museum to showcase geology researcher’s exhibit
A geology researcher at Southern Illinois University Carbondale has quite a story to tell: the history of minerals in the universe.
Daniel Hummer’s exhibit, which will go on display in 2020 at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, will tell the story of the original 12 minerals in the universe, and how they evolved into thousands over billions of years.
Hummer, assistant professor in the geology degree program at SIU, received the offer to design the exhibit late in 2018 and began working on it in 2019. He is the lead designer on the project.
The exhibit describes how key events in geologic history gave birth to new minerals. Some such events include the universe’s first supernovae, the formation of Earth, the development of plate tectonics, the origin of life, and the development of photosynthesis.
Museum is leader in natural history education
Since its founding 1869, the AMNH has become one of the world’s preeminent scientific and cultural institutions and is renowned for its exhibitions and scientific collections, which serve as a field guide to the world and present a panorama of its cultures. Hummer’s exhibit will be located in the museum’s Allison and Roberto Mignone Halls of Gems and Minerals, which is currently under renovation.
The approach of mineral evolution, which looks at the way Earth’s minerals have changed over time instead of simply analyzing present-day content, is relatively new, Hummer said, and was first proposed about a decade ago by Robert Hazen, Hummer’s former postdoctoral adviser.
“Since that time, we’ve discovered a great deal about how minerals have changed over time, but the field is still very much in its infancy,” he said.
Minerals and life are interrelated – theory
One of the key messages in the exhibit, which incorporates a fairly new understanding of the subject, is that the story of life and the story of minerals are interconnected in ways that researchers never previously imagined, Hummer said.
“Minerals may have played a role in creating life by allowing new interactions of molecules on their surfaces, and in turn, life alters the environment enough to allow the formation of new minerals,” Hummer said. “So the evolution of both life and minerals rely on each other in ways that we're only beginning to understand. They are not separate systems. They are all parts of the same system that continually influence each other over Earth's history.”
Exhibit will have long life
The exhibit may be on display more than 20 years and is quite detailed and elaborate in design. For instance, the “anchor” graphic of the exhibit is a spiral timeline of the entire history of the universe. The earliest history will begin at the bottom of the spiral in more compressed fashion, with the more recent history expanded near the top.
Each color-coded portion of the graphic will represent a particular stage of mineral evolution, while each mineral evolution stage will be accompanied by an enlarged “blowup” visual information box. Each box will contain a title for the stage, a brief explanation, and samples of representative minerals and/or rocks that formed during that stage.
The visual and video portions of the mineral evolution exhibit will be under design until spring of 2020. Those exhibits will go on display in the newly renovated area of the museum that summer.
Opportunity for public outreach
Hummer said being approached by one of the world's most prestigious museums to design an exhibit is a bit surreal and more than just a professional honor.
“It's also an incredible opportunity to show parts of my research to the public, in a place and format where it can be viewed by millions of people,” he said. “I've always felt that science education and outreach is one of the keys to society's future, and I'm excited to have a chance to show the general public how fascinating, and how important, the story of minerals is to life and to our planet as a whole.”
Daniel Hummer, a geology researcher at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, stands outside the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. The museum invited Hummer to design an exhibit that will tell the story of the original 12 minerals in the universe, and how they evolved into thousands over billions of years. The exhibit opens in 2020. (Photo provided)