Wirth's research utilizes geochemistry to study the origins of igneous rocks
and the evolution of continental and oceanic crust. He regularly leads students on field
excursions during the January intersession to Hawaii, Costa Rica, or the Galápagos
Islands, and he teaches Geologic Field Methods during summer. Recent research with
students has focused on rocks in the Bering Sea region, southern Ontario and northern
Minnesota, the Galápagos Islands, Tanzania, and Cozumel. 

Wirth have been teaching at Macalester College since 1990. 

EDUCATION: B.S., Beloit College; M.S., Ph.D., Cornell University

Articles

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Cultivating expert learners: Implications of research on the brain and cognition for teaching and learning, In the Trenches (2012)
 

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Reading, Reflecting, and Relating: A Metacognitive Approach to Learning (with Fahima Aziz), International Advances in Economic Research, Research Notes (2010)
 

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Earth Science Instrumentation and Facilities Program Review (with R. Jeanloz, S. L. Beck, M. Lisowski, J. M. Lorenzo, C. I. Mora, J. D. Rimstidt, S. B. Shirey, and S. Stein), EOS, Transactions of the American Geophysical Union (2008)
 

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Geochemical characterization of bentonites beds in the Two Medicine Formation (Campanian, Montana) including a new 40Ar/39Ar age (with B. Z. Foreman, R. R. Rogers, A. L. Deino, and J. T. Thole), Cretaceous Research (2008)
 

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Structure, geochemistry and geochronology of a Penokean lamprophyre dike swarm, Archean Wawa Terrane, Little Presque Isle, Michigan, USA (with John P. Craddock, J. Anziano, J. D. Vervoot, B. Singer, and X. Zhang), Precambrian Research (2007)
 

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Contributions to Books

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An excursion to the classic bedrock localities of northeastern Minnesota with a focus on teaching and learning in the field, Archean to Anthropocene: Field Guides to the Geology of the Mid-Continent of North America (2011)
 

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Geochemical and mineralogic characterization of Middle Stone Age tools of the Laetoli Archaeological Site, Tanzania, and comparisons with possible source materials (with K. A. Adelsberger, A. Z.P. Mabullah, and D. C. Bowman), Paleontology and Geology of Laetoli: Human Evolution in Context (2011)
 

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"The Diversity of Accreted Oceanic Lithosphere in the Brooks Range, Alaska." (with J.M. Bird and J. Wessels), Proceedings of the 29th International Geological Congress : Kyoto, Japan, 24 (1994)
 

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"Early Precambrian Basic Rocks of South America" (with E.P. Olivera, H. Silva Sa, and J. Tarney), Early Precambrian Basic Magmatism (1990)