Conférence du Prof Charles Langmuir "Earth and Human : why might we be there?"
Replay de la conférence du 25 mars 2025.
Institution
Charles Langmuir, Docteur honoris causa from the University of Liège
The University of Liège welcomed Prof. Charles Langmuir, an internationally renowned geochemist and professor at Harvard University, to confer upon him the title of Doctor honoris causa. During a ceremony presided over by Rector Anne-Sophie Nyssen, he delivered a lecture entitled “Earth and Human: why might we be there?” to an audience of over 250 attendees. The following day, he exchanged views with scientists and students during a seminar on the links between volcanism and glacial cycles.
On March 25, the University of Liège welcomed Professor Charles Langmuir, an internationally renowned geochemist and professor at Harvard University. His expertise lies in the petrology of basalts, mainly oceanic basalts. He has published over 160 papers on this subject, including more than 30 in journals such as Nature, Science and Nature Geoscience. Charles Langmuir is co-founder of one of the very first geochemistry journals to be fully accessible online: Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems (G3).Recently, Charles Langmuir was awarded an ERC Synergy Grant (2023) to analyze the links between glacial cycles and volcanism, in relation to climate. He has received numerous scientific awards and distinctions. He is a fellow of several scientific societies.
Rector Anne-Sophie Nyssen presented him with an honorary doctorate from ULiège, before he gave a lecture entitled ‘Earth and Human: why might we be there?’, which was attended by over 250 members of the university community. This was the last lecture in a series of three major scientific conferences scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year, under the theme ‘Sciences, freedoms, democracies’.
The new ULiège honorary doctor was presented by Jacqueline Vander Auwera. Jacqueline Vander Auwera is Director of ULiège's Geology and Geochemistry Laboratory, and now combines this post with that of full professor in the Geology Department of the Faculty of Science. She specializes in the geochemistry of magmatic rocks (lavas, magmas, minerals crystallized from lavas and magmas), and is interested in rocks that solidify at the surface as well as those that form at depth.
Jacqueline Vander Auwera has also been a member of the Académie Royale des Sciences, des Lettres et de Beaux-Arts de Belgique since October 2024.
Charles Langmuir, Docteur honoris causa from the University of Liège | March 25, 2025
The event of March 25 in pictures ©M. Dumont/Twenty2
Enriching exchanges with geology students
On Wednesday March 26, Prof. Charles Langmuir visited the Faculty of Science, accompanied by Jacqueline Vander Auwera, to talk to geology students and give a seminar entitled "Feedbacks between global volcanism and glacial cycles". Among other things, he talked about his research into the links between deglaciation, volcanic activity and variations in atmospheric CO2. In his research, Charles Langmuir examines how ice sheet ablation influences the frequency of subaerial volcanic eruptions, particularly through mantle decompression.
© ULiège/J.Schmetz
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Published on 3/26/25
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