Emily Klein

Klein was interested in medicine as a child. Her father was a doctor, and she spent a lot of her childhood in his office.[1] Klein studied English at Barnard College. She completed her undergraduate degree in 1979, and became a science writer. She was appointed a technician at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, where she was involved with a research project studying Puerto Rican monkey colonies.[1] She became interested in geology, and earned tuition credits to study courses at Columbia University.[1] Klein earned her master's degree in geology at Columbia University, where she remained for her doctoral studies. She investigated the chemical composition of the volcanic rocks collected from mid-ocean ridges around the world.[2] She was awarded the Bruce C. Heezen Memorial Prize for her doctoral thesis in 1987.[3] She worked with Charles Langmuir on mid-ocean ridge basalts.[4] Langmuir and Klein demonstrated that the chemical composition of basalt correlates with the physical environment the basalt is recovered from; including the depth and thickness of the oceanic crust.[4] This work marked a paradigm shift in the understanding of petrogenesis.[4][5][6]

Klein joined Duke University as an Assistant Professor in 1989.[3] She was made Professor in 2005.[3] Klein studies the movement of magma in the oceanic crust.[7][8] She is interested in mid-ocean ridge, a globe encircling belt of volcanoes including the mid-Atlantic ridge.[9] Klein has been on over eleven oceanographic cruises, investigating Incipient Ridge, Hess Deep and Pito Deep Rift.[9] She uses remotely operated underwater vehicles to map the deep ocean, and directs submersible vessels to collect rock samples.[7] She puts these rocks in a furnace, then analyses the chemical composition of the rocks using spectrometers.[2] She is mainly interested in silica, iron, magnesium and aluminium, but also analyses trace elements such as copper, vanadium and uranium.[2] On a cruise of the RV Atlantis, Klein discovered new deep sea hydrothermal vents in the Pacific Ocean.[10] The vents, which Klein named the medusa hydrothermal vents, emit hot springs of iron-darkened water.[10] In 2018 Klein took part in the RV Sally Ride (AGOR-28) investigation of the Cocos-Nazca spreading system.[11]

From 2004 to 2012, Klein served as Director of the Baldwin Scholars' Program at Duke University, which provides leadership opportunities for women students.[2] Klein was appointed Chair of Earth & Ocean Sciences at the Nicholas School in 2017.[12]