Purdue Petrology Suite
We investigate the chemistry and mineralogy of volcanoes and planetary interiors using a variety of experimental and analytical techniques.
Research Facilities
Our lab spaces are currently under construction, and we are hiring graduate students, undergraduates, and postdocs to faciliate with laboratory installation and calibration. If you are motivated to learn the ins and outs of experimental petrology, please get in contact with us!
The Purdue Petrology Suite is part of the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences at Purdue University. Our facilities are located within the Delon and Elizabeth Hampton Hall of Civil Engineering (HAMP), Neil Armstrong Hall of Engineering (ARMS), and Herbert C. Brown Laboratory of Chemistry (BRWN) buildings on Purdue's Main Campus in West Lafayette, Indiana.
Our laboratory has benefitted from generous donations made by Bruce Fegley and Katharina Lodders of the Planetary Chemistry Lab at Washington University in St. Louis. If you are interested in supporting our research, please contact us for more information.
Gas-Mixing Furnaces
We will have four Deltech vertical gas-mixing furnaces and one Deltech horizontal gas-mixing furnace. These furnaces can be heated up to 1700°C at room pressure. The oxygen fugacity of the furnace environment can be controlled using different gas mixtures and monitored throughout the experiment. We will also have additional high-temperature furnaces without gas-mixing capability available for sample synthesis or preparation.
Electron Probe MicroAnalyzer
We will be installing a JEOL JXA-iHP200F Field Emission Electron Probe MicroAnalyzer (FE-EPMA) at Purdue. External users will be able to apply for analytical time on the EPMA through our NASA-funded PRECISE facility. With the EPMA, users can quantify the concentration of elements boron through uranium in a range of materials relevant to earth, planetary, and materials science.
Piston Cylinder Apparatuses
We will house two Rockland piston cylinder apparatuses. The piston cylinders can be used to study materials at pressures up to 4 GPa and temperatures up to 2000°C. Our facilities will also include a "mini machine shop" with which to machine assembly parts for high-pressure experiments.
Multi-Anvil Press
We have a 1000 ton Rockland multi-anvil press for conducting experiments at pressures 3-30 GPa and up to 2500°C. The instrument is in the process of being installed and calibrated. Anyone interested in conducting a multi-anvil experiment should contact Kelsey Prissel for additional information.
Petrographic Microscopes
We have two Leica DM2700 P petrographic microscopes each equipped with an imaging system. These microscopes can be used to investigate and image thin section samples in both transmitted and reflected light. Anyone interested in using one of the petrographic microscopes should contact Tabb Prissel.
Sample Preparation
We will have a variety of equipment available for sample preparation needs including cutting, epoxy mounting, and polishing. Our lab can support grain mount and thin section preparation.
People
Kelsey Prissel
Assistant Professor
Kelsey Prissel studies the chemical evolution of planetary interiors. She conducts high-temperature laboratory experiments and geochemical analyses of igneous rocks in order to develop a crust-to-core perspective of planetary bodies. Kelsey investigates planetary differentiation and volcanism from an interdisciplinary perspective that integrates experimental petrology, sample analysis, isotope geochemistry, diffusion chronometry, geochemical modeling, remote sensing, and field work. Her research has explored igneous processes on the Earth, Moon, Mars, and Mercury.
Tabb Prissel
Assistant Professor
Tabb Prissel is an igneous petrologist focusing on the evolution of planetary crusts (Earth is a planet, too!). With perspective rooted in sample observation and analysis, Tabb then integrates experimental petrology techniques, orbital mission data, and geochemical modeling to study the earliest history of planetary surfaces and their transition to secondary and tertiary crust building processes. General topics include primary magmas, magma-rock interactions, magma oceans and impact melt seas, and field analog studies.
Mike Eddy
Assistant Professor
Mike Eddy is a field geologist and geochronologist interested in the timescales of igneous processes. His research reconstructs past events through detailed observational studies complimented by laboratory experiments, quantitative models, and geochemical measurements. This approach is used to quantify the rates of petrologic and tectonic processes in fossil geologic systems. He is PI of the Radiogenic Isotope Geology Lab that houses a TIMS instrument within Purdue EAPS.
Alan Bartlett
Graduate Student
Alan Bartlett is a PhD student interested in how the petrological textures and geochemistry of igneous rocks record the history of subsurface magmatic processes, on Earth and other worlds. Alan is interested in sample-based science with an emphasis on petrography and experimental petrology. They earned a BS in Geological Sciences at Arizona State University in 2025 and completed their Honors Thesis on petrographic analysis of Mt. Shasta andesites.
Gustavo Marchant Allende
Graduate Student
Gustavo Marchant Allende is a PhD student interested in the evolution of rocky planets through high-temperature geochemistry and geochemical modeling. He earned his bachelor’s in Geology at Macalester College in 2025. His past research focused on volcanic deposits from the Moon (Apollo 17) and mantle xenoliths from Mongolia and the US.
Ky Dodd
Undergraduate Researcher
Ky is working with Kelsey Prissel on XCT analysis of lunar analog samples. These analyses will inform sampling activities for robotic sample return missions, such as the Endurance Mission Concept to the lunar South Pole Aitken basin.
Stephen Anderson
Undergraduate Researcher
Stephen is working with Kelsey Prissel on the mantle mineralogy of Venus. He is investigating the role of composition on the interior mineral structure of Venus using thermodynamic modeling with PerpleX and high-pressure multi-anvil experiments.
Laura Yocum
Undergraduate Researcher
Laura is working with Kelsey Prissel on 3D printing for teaching materials to be incorporated into courses related to mineralogy, petrology, and planetary science.
Bella Bronner
Undergraduate Researcher
Bella is working with Kelsey Prissel on melt inclusions in terrestrial samples. This work will investigate the volatile composition of melt inclusions and how the preservation of melt inclusions is affected by different magmatic and eruptive conditions on Earth and other planetary bodies.