Brendan Hanger

Teaching Assistant Professor
Department of Geology and Geological Engineering

About Me

Teaching geology is a passion of mine and the focus of my career. I currently teach extensively within the Geological Engineering undergraduate program and Geology graduate program at the Colorado School of Mines, having joined the Department of Geology and Geological Engineering in August 2021 as a Teaching Assistant Professor. I teach a wide range of courses including Earth and Environmental Systems (GEGN101), Field Methods and Geology (GEGN217, 316 & 317), Thermodynamics for Geoscientists (GEGN330), Igneous Petrology (GEOL628) and Volcanology (GEOL645), more details about my courses and teaching methods will be added soon.

Prior to arriving at Mines I taught for four years at Olahoma State University (OSU) as a Teaching Assistant Professor, and for eight years at the Australian National University (ANU) as a Teaching Fellow and Teaching Assistant. In these positions I taught a wide range of introductory geology, climate change, mineralogy, petrology, field geology and graoundwater courses. I completed a PhD in Earth Sciences with a focus on mantle petrology and geochemistry at the ANU in 2014, working with Greg Yaxley. It was during my PhD that I was first given the opportunity to teach and this led me to developing into the educator I now am. Prior to this I completed my undergraduate studies in geology and chemical engineering at both ANU and Monash University, Melbourne.

Education

• PhD in Earth Sciences, Australian National University, 2014
• BSc (Honours) in Geology, Australian National University, 2009
• BEng (Honours) in Chemical Engineering, Monash University, 2008
• BSc in Geosciences and Chemistry, Monash University, 2008