Dr. Vance (center) with students Stewart Dixon (left) and Jason Slohn (right) in a granite quarry near Sparta, Georgia.
Dr. R. Kelly Vance was born in Hardin County, Kentucky in 1955 and grew up close to the earth (a farmer) near Hodgenville in LaRue County, Kentucky. He received a B.S. in Geology from the University of Kentucky in 1978, an M.S. in Geology at U.K. in 1984 and a Ph.D. in Geology from the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology in 1989.
Kelly Vance gained his first teaching experience as a Masters student teaching an evening course in Historical Geology at the University of Kentucky in 1981. Additional experience as a T.A. at both the University of Kentucky and New Mexico Tech also molded future decisions. Kelly Vance began full time teaching in a temporary position at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina (1986-1988) and also taught a summer course (1988) at Mayland Community College in Spruce Pine, North Carolina. In the Fall of 1988 Kelly Vance began teaching at Georgia Southern University. Courses taught at Georgia Southern include Physical Geology, Historical Geology, the majors courses Crystallography and Mineralogy, Optical Mineralogy, Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology, Introduction to Research and Regional Field Geology. Kelly Vance also teaches a majors course in the Geology of Industrial and Metallic Mineral Resources. Dr. Vance believes in getting the students into the field and incorporates field trips into as many of the majors courses as possible and strongly supports Geology Club field excursions through organizational assistance and serving as a field trip leader. Additional teaching efforts at Georgia Southern University include seven years of work (that began with Drs. Bishop and Rich) with Eisenhower Grant sponsored summer courses for middle and high school teachers including Graduate courses such as Regional Field Geology, Geology of Georgia, Principles of Geology and Introduction to Industrial Minerals.
Kelly Vance's area of specialization includes igneous petrology and geochemistry, the tectonic evolution of Proterozoic successions in the southwest U.S., and the geology of metallic and industrial mineral resources. Kelly Vance continues to explore the link between extensional tectonics in ancient volcanic arcs and the development and preservation of volcanogenic ore deposits. These investigations include work in the Proterozoic rocks of the Yavapai Supergroup of central Arizona and the Gunnison Gold Belt of Colorado. Recent projects have involved mapping and petrographic studies with undergraduates in the Late Proterozoic to Cambrian rocks of the Carolina Slate Belt along the Georgia/South Carolina border. Additional projects with undergraduates include investigation of the talc deposits at Fort Mountain, Georgia and pegmatite-aplite dikes at Sparta, Georgia. Recent projects include investigations with Pranoti Asher that focus on Mesozoic diabase dikes in the vicinity of Clark Hill Reservoir and assisting Ed Dewitt (USGS - Minerals) in compilation of map and geochemical data on Proterozoic rocks of central Arizona. (See abstracts in Publications/ Projects for student research projects.)
Kelly Vance actively serves Georgia Southern Universtiy and the Department of Geology and Geography through work with the GeoClub, monitoring and advising on fund raising activities and assisting in organization of field trips. Since the Club's reactivation in 1991 he has led, participated or supported Spring Break trips to the Appalachians, New Mexico and Colorado and to Big Bend Park in Texas. Department service duties include maintaining mineral and rock sample collections for intro and advanced labs, training and assisting students in the petrographic lab and serving on the Hanson Scholarship Committee. Vance also works with Pranoti Asher to maintain or develop Alumni contacts and to organize Homecoming events for the Alumni. Community work includes assisting regional teachers with Science Fairs, developing mineral, rock and fossil study collections for Middle Schools and presentations on mineral deposits, fossils or other geologic topics to regional schools. Vance also serves as one of local "What is it?" contacts to identify various minerals, rocks and non-minerals for the general public.
Kelly Vance has spent most of his working career employed by academic institutions to perform various research and instructional duties including: D.O.E. funded field and geochemical investigation of Devonian Oil Shales, N.S.F. funded mapping and geochemical studies of Proterozoic rocks of the southwest United States, working with field camps of the University of Kentucky and New Mexico Tech. Additional employment includes work with the Institute for Mining and Minerals Research in Kentucky. Teaching contracts include the University of Kentucky, Appalachian State University, Mayland Community College and Georgia Southern University.
Asher, P.M.; Vance, R.K.; and Cook. H.P., 2003, A Preliminary
Report on the Mesozoic Diabase Dikes from Georgia: Geol. Soc.
America Southeastern Sec. Mtng., Accepted for Abstr. with Programs
V. 35, No. 1
Vance, R. K., Buggins, A. E. and Collins, K., 2001, Origin of
Pegmatite-Aplite Dikes in the Sparta Granite, Georgia: Geological
Society of America Abstracts with Programs, V. 33, No. 2, p. A-29.
Rasco, H. P. and Vance R. K., 1998, Petrographic Study of Talc
Deposits at the Georgia Mine, Chatsworth Talc District, Murray
County, Georgia: Geological Society of America Abstracts with
Programs, v. 30, No. 4, p. 55.
Governale, J. M., Moore, J. E., III and Vance, R. K., 1998, Field
and Petrographic Study of Carolina Slate Belt Rocks in the Woodlawn
Quadrangle, Georgia: Geological Society of America Abstracts with
Programs, v. 30, No. 4, p. 14.
Vance, R. K., 1998, Origin and Concentration of Ti in Heavy Mineral
Sands: in Rich, F. and Bishop, G. A., ed., Geology and Natural
History of the Okefenokee Swamp and Trail Ridge, Southeastern
Georgia-Northern Florida: Georgia Geological Society Guidebook,
V. 18, No. 1, Oct. 9-11, p. 1-8.
Vance, R. K. and Raymond, L. A., 1994, Field and Geochemical Constraints
on the Origin of the Greer Hollow Ultramafic Rocks, Eastern Blue
Ridge Province, North Carolina: Geological Society of America
Abstracts with Programs, V. 26, No. 4, p. 67.
Feiss, P. Geoffrey, Vance, R. Kelly and Wesolowski, David, 1993.
Volcanic rock-hosted gold and base-metal mineralization associated
with Neoproterozoic-Early Paleozoic back-arc extension in the
Carolina Terrane, southern Appalachian Piedmont. Geology, V. 21,
p 439-442
Vance, R. K. and Condie, K. C., 1987. Geochemistry of the Early
Proterozoic Deception Rhyolite in the Footwall Alteration Zone
of the United Verde Massive Sulfide Deposit, Jerome, Arizona.
Economic Geology, V. 82, 571-586
Vance, R. K., 1986. The Gunnison Intrusive Complex in International Field Conference of Proterozoic Geology and Geochemistry, Central Colorado, U.S.A., July 13-19, 1986, (ed.) Van Schmus, W. R.
Condie, K. C., Bowling, G. P., and Vance, R. K., 1984. Geochemistry and Origin of Early Proterozoic Supracrustal Rocks, Dos Cabezas Mountains, Southeastern Arizona. Geological Society of America Bulletin, V. 96, No. 5,655-662.
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