The Maine Chapter of the International Appalachian Trail is pleased to announce that Dr. Jim Hibbard, Professor of Geology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh , NC. has accepted our invitation to speak on the “Origin of the Appalachian Orogen” at the International Appalachian Trail Annual General Meeting on June 5-7, 2014 at the Twin Pines Camps, Millinocket, Maine.
Dr. Hibbard grew up at the juncture of the northern and southern Appalachians, in the Hudson Valley and Catskill Mountains of New York. He was introduced to the newly emerging concept of plate tectonics at Colgate University, where in 1973 he received his BA in geology. He went on to continue his studies at Memorial University of Newfoundland, where he received in 1976 an MS in geology. While at Memorial University, he was a research assistant to Dr. Harold (Hank) Williams and helped develop the first Tectonic Lithofacies map of the Appalachians. He subsequently spent 7 years as a project geologist of the Baie Verte area for the Geological Survey of Newfoundland and Labrador. He returned to academia for his PhD in Geological Sciences (1988) at Cornell University; where his studies focused on deformation paths of Miocene rocks of the Shimanto accretionary plate tectonic complex in southwest Japan. Professor Hibbard has been at North Carolina State University since 1988, where he teaches structural geology, tectonics, and Appalachian geology. His research focuses on Appalachian tectonics culminating in his becoming chief compiler of the new Lithotectonic Map of the Appalachian Orogen which will be on display at the Annual General Meeting in Millinocket. His publications are too numerous to be mentioned here, but can be made available upon request.
