Ross A. Salerno, Ph.D.

Ross is currently a Mendenhall Postdoctoral Fellow at the GEMSC in Reston, Virginia. Before the USGS, Ross completed his Ph.D. at Washington State University focusing on the tectonic evolution of Paleoarchean crust in the Pilbara Craton using the Lu-Hf, Sm-Nd, and U-Pb isotope systems. Ross used similar techniques during his MS research at the University of Minnesota, Duluth to study the rates and the mechanisms controlling crustal growth in the Southwest Superior Craton during the Neoarchean.  

With the USGS, Ross is currently studying the Precambrian geology and mineral systems of the Upper Peninsula, Michigan. These terranes are important as they record information about several important episodes in the geologic evolution of North America, spanning from craton development in the Archean to several major accretion events throughout the Proterozoic. Further, this region provides example where reactivation and modification of the Archean tectonic framework by Paleoproterozoic events exhibits control over the formation and distribution of mineral systems, which in this region are prospective for a variety of critical resources.