PD Dr. Melanie Kaliwoda
Habilitated lecturer
SNSB
Office hours:
Appointments can be arranged by email
PD Dr. Melanie Kaliwoda is Vice Director of the Mineralogical State Collection Munich (MSM) and Privatdozentin at LMU Munich, with expertise in mantle petrology, ophiolites, and planetary materials. She is the head and founder of the MSM Raman Laboratory, where she develops advanced Raman-based approaches and a comprehensive reference database for terrestrial and extraterrestrial materials. Her research spans mantle xenoliths, ophiolite systems, impact structures, meteorites, light-element geochemistry, and mineral–fluid processes. She leads a research group, teaches across mineralogy, petrology, geochemistry, and spectroscopy, and contributes extensively to academic service and museum-based science communication.
Melanie Kaliwoda is a Privatdozentin at LMU Munich and the head and founder of the Raman Laboratory at the Mineralogical State Collection Munich (MSM). Her research focuses on mantle rocks, ophiolites, xenoliths, and meteorites, combining petrology with advanced Raman spectroscopy. She leads a research group in this field, supervising PhD candidates as well as Master’s and Bachelor’s students. Since 2019, she has served as Vice Director of the Mineralogical State Collection Munich.
Research Interests
Melanie Kaliwoda’s research focuses on upper-mantle rocks, particularly ophiolites and xenoliths, with an emphasis on metasomatic overprinting and mineral reactions. She also investigates extraterrestrial materials, especially Martian and lunar meteorites. A further core area is Raman spectroscopy, including the development of spectral databases for advancing geomaterials research. Additionally, she studies light elements such as Li, Be, and B, with a focus on their mobility and behavior in minerals.
- Mantle Petrology and Geochemistry
- Light Elements and Geochemical Processes
- Planetary Materials and Raman Spectroscopy
- Raman Laboratory and Database Development
- Impact Geology and Crustal Processes
- Metamorphic Petrology of Subduction Zones
- Mineral Physics and Crystallography
- Materials Science and Environmental Mineralogy.
Melanie Kaliwoda und Stefan Hölzl im Nördlinger Ries mit Handheld Ramanspektroskop | © Melanie Kaliwoda
Impact research in connection with meteorite research
The Nördlinger Ries is one of the best-preserved impact structures on Earth. Although the Nördlinger Ries has been studied extensively, many details remain unclear, e.g., regarding the polymictic crystalline breccias that form part of the “colorful debris masses” or other topics relating to impacts on Earth or in space. In cooperation with various scientists from the Nördlinger Ries Crater Museum (SNSB), LMU, and the State Collection of Mineralogy in Munich, research is being conducted on the formation and mineral transformation in the impact area on Earth and in space.
Measurement methodology: Raman spectroscopy, electron probe microanalysis, scanning electron microscope
Cooperation partners: Prof. Dr. Stefan Hölzl (Ries Crater Museum, SNSB), Dr. Fabian Delefant, Prof. Dr. Wolfgang W. Schmahl (MSM; SNSB), Prof. Dr. Claudia Trepmann (Department of Earth Sciences, LMU), Dr. Kai-Uwe Hess (Department of Earth Sciences, LMU), Prof. Dr. Mario Trieloff (University of Heidelberg)
Dellefant F, Seybold L, Trepmann CA, Gilder SA, Sleptsova IV, Hölzl S, Kaliwoda M (2024). Emplacement of shocked basement clasts during crater excavation in the Ries impact structure. Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch) 113, 951–971 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-024-02403-z
Dellefant F, Trepmann CA, Schmahl WW, Gilder SA, Sleptsova IV, Kaliwoda M (2024). Ilmenite phase transformations in suevite from the Ries impact structure (Germany) record evolution in pressure, temperature, and oxygen fugacity conditions. American Mineralogist, vol. 109, no. 6, 2024, pp. 1005-1023. https://doi.org/10.2138/am-2023-8985
Seybold L, Trepmann CA, Hoelzl S, Pollok K, Langenhorst F, Dellefant F, Kaliwoda M (2023) Twinned calcite as an indicator of high differential stresses and low shock pressure conditions during impact cratering. Meteoritics and Planetary Science 58, Nr 9, 1287–1305, doi: 10.1111/maps.14056