News Author: Kevin Johnson

Nominations for Early Career Board Member

August 03, 2023

Students, postdoctoral scholars, and other early career scientists form a crucial segment of the Geochemical Society's membership. To make sure that we consider the needs of this population, the society has two seats on its board specifically for early career researchers (ECR). The board is responsible for governing the organization and determining how our programs can best serve the international geochemistry community. Serving on the board is an opportunity to develop as a leader, meet colleagues from around the world, and make a real contribution to the society and larger community.

Early career scientists may self-nominate for this role by September 1, 2023.

Definition of ECR: Early career researchers are defined as higher degree (beyond Bachelors level) students in good standing who 1) have completed at least 2 years of a PhD program (e.g., equivalent to having passed qualifying or mid-term exams where applicable) OR 2) postdoctoral researchers or faculty within 4 years of being awarded their PhD, OR 3) employees in a geochemistry-related industry within 4 years of last degree completion at the year of nomination.

Term of Service: ECR directors will serve for 2 years. This reflects the competing heavy demands on ECR time at this stage of their careers and also allows for broader participation of ECRs on the GS Board.

Duties: The duties of the ECR directors will be the same and with full Board voting and participation rights equivalent to other Non-Officer/Directors and they will be expected to attend all Board meetings, including at Goldschmidt Conferences either in-person (preferred) or virtually. Financial assistance for travel to in-person meetings will be available. It is also expected that the ECR directors will serve on the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and other GS committees as needed.

Selection Process: Candidates may self-nominate or be nominated by others. (In the case of nominations by others, the society will contact the candidate to confirm that they are willing to stand for election.) The terms of the two ECR directors will be staggered, with one ECR director elected last year and one this year. As part of the process, each potential nominee will be asked to write a 500-word statement indicating why they wish to serve on the Board and what they would like to accomplish, along with a brief description of their experience, which may include a website link. At least two candidates to stand for election will be selected by the Nomination Committee and the Board. These candidates will be presented to the entire society membership during the Board election in November.

Submit a nomination: To self-nominate, send your statement of interest to: nominations@geochemsoc.org. To nominate someone else, send their name and email address and a member of the committee will follow up with the nominee (confirmation from the candidate must be received by the same deadline, so if nominating someone else, please submit it in advance of September 1). Nominations for the position are due by September 1, 2023.

Asmeret Asefaw Berhe Receives 2023 John Hayes Award

July 13, 2023

Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, who is on leave from the University of California, Merced to serve as Director of the DOE Office of Science, received the 2023 John Hayes Award from the GS. The award is given to a mid-career scientist for outstanding accomplishments that draw together multiple fields of investigation to advance biogeochemical science. It was created in 2017 by the Organic Geochemistry Division and a group of friends, colleagues, and students of John Hayes. Prof. Berhe is recognized for contributions to our understanding of the dynamics of carbon transport and stabilization in soils, from molecular to watershed scales. Her research has transformed our conceptual model of terrestrial carbon cycling by incorporating a landscape perspective, specifically, geomorphology and hillslope processes, into biogeochemical studies.

Category: Society News
Tags: OGD, Awards

Ken Rubin to Receive Distinguished Service Award

June 23, 2023

Ken Rubin of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa will receive the 2023 GS Distinguished Service Award at the Goldschmidt Conference in July. He is recognized for extraordinary service to the Geochemical Society and the broader geochemical community through his leadership as chair of the Local Organizing committee and Science Committee member for the Goldschmidt Conferences in 2020 and 2022. The Distinguished Service Award is presented on an irregular basis to recognize contributions that greatly exceed the normal expectations of voluntary service.

Category: Society News
Tag: Awards

Executive Editor of GCA

June 06, 2023

The Geochemical Society and the Meteoritical Society are seeking qualified candidates to serve as Executive Editor (EE) of Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (GCA). The appointment is for an initial 3-year term commencing January 1, 2025, with the possibility of an additional 3-year term by negotiation with the societies and the publisher. GCA publishes research papers that address fundamental aspects of geochemistry and cosmochemistry as well as articles relating to key activities of the sponsoring societies.

Consideration of applicants will begin October 1 and continue until the position is filled. Learn more

Category: Society News
Tag: GCA

James Bischoff (1940-2021)

March 23, 2023

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Jim Bischoff who died at the age of 80 on February 17, 2021. Jim had battled several serious illnesses over the past couple of decades and finally succumbed while in the care of hospice with his family at his side. He is survived by his wife Marybeth, children Matthew and Lorena, and four grandchildren.

His curiosity driven life in the pursuit of science led him to a highly successful career in marine geochemistry. Recognizing the impracticality of a fantasy career in archaeology Jim obtained an undergraduate degree in geology at Occidental College and PhD in geochemistry at Berkeley in 1966 under Bill Fyfe. He carried out a two-year postdoc at Woods Hole during a time of great excitement about new discoveries in the oceans, especially about this outrageous new idea of seafloor spreading. After five years as Professor at University of Southern California, Jim joined the Branch of Pacific and Coastal Marine Geology of the USGS in 1974. He quickly built the marine geochemistry program to international acclaim.

Category: In Memoriam

Shucheng Xie Named 2023 Alfred Treibs Medalist

March 02, 2023

Shucheng Xie, professor of geobiology at the China University of Geosciences, will receive the 2023 the Alfred Treibs Award. Presented by the society's Organic Geochemistry Division, the award is given for major achievements, over a period of years, in organic geochemistry. Prof. Xie is recognized for pioneering studies of geolipids for paleoclimate research, developing applications to stalagmites, paleosols, and marine sediments, and expanding knowledge of microbial activity during major evolutionary and mass extinction events in Earth history.

Category: Society News
Tags: Awards, OGD

Boswell Wing Named 2022 John Hayes Award Recipient

March 02, 2023

Boswell Wing, associate professor of geological sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder (USA), will receive the 2022 John Hayes Award from the GS. The award is given to a mid-career scientist for outstanding accomplishments that draw together multiple fields of investigation to advance biogeochemical science. It was created in 2017 by the Organic Geochemistry Division and a group of friends, colleagues, and students of John Hayes. Prof. Wing is recognized for contributions to science and mentorship at the intersection of isotopic geochemistry, microbiology, and studies of Earth's fluid envelope that have shaped the fabric of our knowledge of Earth as a biogeochemical system. Presentation of the 2022 award was delayed following the pandemic.

Category: Society News
Tags: Awards, OGD

Roberta Rudnick Named 2023 V. M. Goldschmidt Medalist

February 13, 2023

Roberta L. Rudnick, Distinguished Professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara (USA), will receive the 2023 Victor Moritz Goldschmidt Award this July. The Goldschmidt Award is the society's highest honor, presented annually for major achievements in geochemistry over a career. Prof. Rudnick is recognized for her contributions to understanding the composition, origin, and evolution of the continents and lithospheric mantle and developing Li isotope geochemistry.

Category: Society News
Tag: Awards

Myrna Simpson Named 2023 C. C. Patterson Medalist

February 13, 2023

Myrna J. Simpson will receive the 2023 Clair C. Patterson Award, which recognizes an innovative breakthrough in environmental geochemistry of fundamental significance within the last decade, particularly in service to society. Dr. Simpson is Professor of Environmental Chemistry at the University of Toronto (Canada), Associate Director of the Environmental NMR Centre, and the Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in Integrative Molecular Biogeochemistry. She is recognized for work that has reshaped our understanding of pollutant fate and anthropogenic impacts on biogeochemical cycling in both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

Category: Society News
Tag: Awards

Sarah Aarons Named 2023 F. W. Clarke Medalist

February 13, 2023

Sarah Aarons, Assistant Professor at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (USA), will receive the 2023 F. W. Clarke Award this July. The Clarke Award honors a single outstanding contribution to geochemistry or cosmochemistry by an early-career scientist. Dr. Aarons is recognized for using novel applications of radiogenic and non-traditional stable isotope systematics to identify dust sources in dust traps and ice cores, understand mineral fractionation associated with dust transport, and unravel the processes responsible for crustal generation at the Hadean/Archean transition.

Category: Society News
Tag: Awards
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