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Meet the Faculty

Michael Bergman

Why I came to Simon's Rock

I was doing a joint post-doc at Harvard and the University of Glasgow, but knew I wanted to teach and do research at a liberal arts college. At the time (and maybe still) such jobs were very hard to find, with something like 800 applicants for a job at Amherst, and over 300 applicants for the position here. I was not the college's first choice, but when several people turned down the offer, they turned to me.

Over the years I've had offers to go elsewhere, including for more money, but a combination of liking our students, the institution, and personal reasons have kept me here.

Pullquote
❝My favorite Simon's Rock teaching moment was watching This is Spinal Tap with my electronics class one year because of the amplifier that goes to 11.❞
In the News

Mike Bergman describes one of the Earth's most extreme environments, its inner core, on WAMC's Academic Minute.

Michael Bergman Receives Grant From the National Science Foundation

Michael Bergman Wins Major Fellowship Award

Physics faculty Michael Bergman offered commentary on new research showing that the earth’s inner core is moving east, in the August 5th edition of the journal Nature. He was quoted extensively at the Christian Science Monitor, explaining how scientists use data from earthquakes to investigate what’s happening in the center of the earth.

Michael Bergman

Michael Bergman

Physics
Division: Science, Mathematics and Computing
Appointment: 1994

117 Fisher
413-528-7432
bergman@simons-rock.edu

 

Education:

BA, Columbia, summa cum laude
PhD, MIT

Professional History:

Post-doc: University of Glasgow, Harvard University
Teaching Fellow: Harvard University

Areas of Interest:

Teaching Introductory Physics • quantum physics • electricity and magnetism • fluid mechanics • solid state physics • electronics • robotics • earth science.

Research Interests/Professional Service

  • Secretary General, Study of the Earth's Deep Interior (SEDI), 2002-
  • Guest editor, Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors (PEPI)
  • Reviewer for Nature, PEPI, Physical Review Letters, National Science Foundation (NSF)

Publications/Book Chapters/Exhibitions/Performances:

  • Bergman, M.I., "Measurements of elastic anisotropy due to solidification texturing and the implications for the Earth's inner core", Nature, 389, 60-63, 1997.
  • Bergman, M.I., "Estimates of the Earth's inner core grain size", Geophys. Res. Lett., 25, 1593-1596, 1998.
  • Bergman, M.I., "Solidification of the Earth's Core", 105-127, in Earth's Core: Dynamics, Structure, Rotation, ed. Dehant, V., et al., American Geophysical Union, Geodynamics Series 31, 10.1029/31GD08, 2002.
  • Bergman, M.I., "An inner core slip-sliding away", Nature, 466, 697-698, 2010.
  • Bergman, M.I. & Fearn, D.R., "Chimneys on the Earth's inner-outer core boundary?", Geophys. Res. Lett., 21, 477-480, 1994.
  • Bergman, M.I., Fearn, D.R., & Bloxham, J., "Suppression of channel convection in solidifying Pb-Sn alloys via an applied magnetic field", Metall. Trans., 30A, 1809-1815, 1999.
  • Bergman, M.I., Giersch, L., Hinczewski, M., & Izzo, V., "Elastic and attenuation anisotropy in directionally solidifiied (hcp) zinc and the seismic anisotropy in the Earth's inner core", Phys. Earth Planet. Inter., 117, 139-151, 2000.
  • Bergman, M.I., Cole, D.M., & Jones, J.R., "Preferred crystal orientations due to melt convection during directional solidification", J. Geophys. Res.,10.1029/2001JB000601, 2002.
  • Bergman, M.I., Agrawal, S., Carter, M., & Macleod-Silberstein, M., "Transverse solidification textures in hexagonal close-packed alloys", J. Crystal Growth, 255, 204-211, 2003.
  • Bergman, M.I., Macleod-Silberstein, M., Haskel, M., Chandler, B., & Akpan, N., "A laboratory model for solidification of Earth's core", Phys. Earth Planet. Inter., 153, 150-164, 2005.
  • Sumita, I. & Bergman, M.I., "Inner core dynamics", 299-318, in The Mantle and Core, ed. Olson, P., Treatise on Geophysics, 8.10, ed. Schubert, G., Pergamon-Elsevier, Oxford, 2007.
  • Bergman, M.I., et al., "Grain growth and loss of texture during annealing of alloys, and the translation of Earth's inner core", Geophys. Res. Lett., 37, L22313, 2010.

Awards/Grants:

  • NATO fellow, 1992
  • 2000 Doornbos Prize for research on Earth's deep interior, SEDI, Exeter, UK, 2000.
  • Research Corporation: 35,000, Channel formation in directionally solidifying alloys, 1996-98.
  • NSF: 65,000, Acoustics of directionally solidified alloys, and the Earth's inner core, 1997-2000.
  • NSF: 67,000 A laboratory study on the effects of a mean shear fluid flow during solidification of hexagonal closest packed metallic alloys, 2000-2003.
  • NSF: 120,000, A laboratory model for solidification of Earth's core, 2003-2008.
  • NSF: 115,000, Deformation of directionally solidifying alloys, 2008-2011.
  • NSF: 300,000, Annealing of directionally solidifying alloys (co-PI with Dan Lewis, RPI), 2011-.

Other Activities:

Simon's Rock chamber orchestra