Brian Cooper

Associate Professor and Chair
Mineralogy and Petrology

I was born in Wisconsin, grew up and completed my undergraduate work in California, then moved on to Virginia for my graduate studies before finally starting work at SHSU in 1982. I became the Geology Program Coordinator in 1985, which I usually refer to as the Middle Jurassic. When I started at Sam, I was put in charge of coordinating the Physical Geology labs and that remains one of my charges. I also do some professing that includes introductory and advanced lectures. The advanced lectures are primarily in the hard rock sphere of influence and include mineralogy, petrology, and economic geology.

My research focus, when I have time to focus, relates to the physical properties of minerals, especially optical properties. My dissertation applied dielectric tensor analysis to model the optical properties of composite minerals. I also tried to use atomic polarizabilities to calculate the optical properties of minerals, with an emphasis on the effects of ionic substitution on optical parameters. My current project is analyzing the cause of sector-zoned fluorescence in local gypsum crystals. Another interest of mine is the origin and characterization of the Manning fused glass (also found locally).