Rolf S. Arvidson began his career in Earth sci-ences with a BS in geology from the University of Washington. His graduate work (PhD in ocean-ography, University of Hawai‘i) involved the experimental resolution of dolomite reaction kinetics. He is the principal author of MAGic, model software describing the geochemical evo-lution of Earth’s oceans, atmosphere, and shallow crust. After more than 12 years at Rice University,

he is currently a laboratory director and research scientist at the University of Bremen. His research interests include mineral interactions with natural waters, computer simulation of surface reactions, and integration of this understanding to biogeochemical cycling.

José Manuel Astilleros is an associate professor in the Faculty of Geology of the Complutense University of Madrid, where he received his doc-torate in 2001. He is also a researcher at the Institute for Geosciences in Madrid. From 2001 to 2003, he was a Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellow at the Institute of Mineralogy in Münster, Germany. For the last 15 years, his scientifi c inter-ests have centered on low-temperature crystal

growth of carbonate and sulfate minerals and on mineral–water interface geochemistry. His research covers both theoretical (thermodynamics of solid solution–aqueous solution systems) and applied issues, such as sorp-tion of dissolved heavy metals by mineral surfaces.

Liane G. Benning is a professor of experimental biogeochemistry at the School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, UK. She obtained a PhD from ETH Zürich (1995) and, after a postdoctoral appointment at Penn State (USA), she returned to Europe in 1999 as a research fellow at the University of Leeds. There, she was awarded a chair in 2007 for her research into the quantitative determination of biogeochemical

reactions at low to hydrothermal temperatures in inorganic and mixed inorganic–biologic systems. Her group focuses on elucidating the mecha-nisms and kinetics of mineral nucleation, growth, and crystallization and on understanding various aspects of biomineralization and life in extreme environments.

Lurdes Fernández-Díaz is a professor in the Department of Crystallography and Mineralogy at the Complutense University of Madrid and the director of the Department of Geomaterials at the Geosciences Institute (CSIC, UCM) in Madrid, Spain. She has been interested in crystal-growth processes in diffusion–reaction systems since the 1980s. Her research topics include the growth morphology of crystals, the reactivity of mineral

surfaces, and the crystallization of solid solutions. In her studies she combines crystal-growth experiments using gel methods and in situ nanoscale observations. Her current research deals with the thermody-namic and kinetic factors that control the crystallization of calcium carbonate phases and their polymorphic transformations.

Cornelius Fischer is a senior research scientist at the MARUM, University of Bremen. His current research aims at developing a fundamental understanding of the variability of reaction rates. He applies experimental and analytical methods to fl uid–rock interactions in diagenetic regimes. His research interests include the kinetics of min-eral dissolution in rocks, the adsorption of col-loids at rock surfaces, and the integration of reac-

tion rates from the scale of individual mineral grains up to that of sedimentary basins. Fischer’s work has been recognized by an Alexander von Humboldt research fellowship and the Hermann Credner Award for a young researcher, given by the German Geoscience Society.

Julian D. Gale is a John Curtin Distinguished Professor of computational chemistry at Curtin University in Perth, Western Australia. He obtained a BA (1987) and DPhil (1991) in chem-istry from the University of Oxford. From 1993 to 2003 he was initially a Royal Society University Research Fellow and subsequently a Reader at Imperial College London, before moving to Australia. His research interests span the develop-

ment and application of atomistic computational techniques to the simulation of condensed phase matter, including minerals. In recent years he has focused on the theoretical exploration of crystal growth from aqueous solution, including carbonate geochemistry.

Andreas Lüttge is a professor of mineralogy at the MARUM, University of Bremen. He received his PhD (1990) and Habilitation (1995) from the University of Tübingen, Germany, and worked subsequently in the United States at Yale (1995–1998) and Rice University (1999–2012). His research centers on the kinetics of fl uid–solid interactions, with a focus on the role of micro-organisms in such processes. His research results

have applications in a number of natural and engineered systems. Examples are diagenetic and metamorphic processes, groundwater con-tamination, sequestration of nuclear waste, and early cement hydration. He received a fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and is an author or coauthor of more than 100 publications.

Paolo Raiteri is a senior research fellow at Curtin University in Perth, Australia. He received an MSc and a PhD from the University of Milano-Bicocca, after which he spent 5 years as a research assistant at ETH Zürich. In 2008 he moved to Australia and joined Curtin University, where he currently holds a research fellowship from the Australian Research Council. His expertise is in the area of computational geochemistry, particularly in the

application of free energy techniques to the study of the dissolution and growth of minerals in aqueous solutions.

Manuel Prieto is a professor of crystallography and mineralogy at the University of Oviedo, Spain. He received his PhD in geology (1982) from the Complutense University of Madrid. Over the years, his research has dealt mainly with the application of crystal-growth concepts to geo-chemical issues. His expertise covers the parti-tioning of major, minor, and trace elements during mineral growth and dissolution and its

implications for the transport and fate of harmful ions in the environ-ment. He is currently serving as chief coeditor of European Journal of Mineralogy. He has also served as a member of the Executive Committee of Elements (2007–2010) and as president of the Spanish Mineralogical Society (2006–2010).

Christine V. Putnis is a research mineralogist in the Institute for Mineralogy, University of Münster, Germany. Her fi rst studies in geology were at the University of Newcastle in Australia, which were followed by a research position in the Department of Earth Sciences, Cambridge, UK. She moved to Germany in 1996, where she completed a doctorate on reactions at the min-eral–fl uid interface. She is the leader of an atomic force microscopy laboratory and researches and

ELEMENTS JUNE 2013173

teaches in the fi eld of mineral-surface reactions at the nanoscale, with the aim of understanding mineral dissolution and growth mechanisms related to geochemical and large-scale Earth processes.

Carlos Rodriguez-Navarro has been a professor in the Department of Mineralogy and Petrology at the University of Granada since 1999. Previously, he was a research fellow at the Getty Conservation Institute from 1995 until 1999. His research interest lies in heritage weathering and conservation. He has published more than a hun-dred papers on topics such as salt damage, nanoscale processes during chemical weathering,

and bacterial mineralization for stone conservation. He is a fellow of the Mineralogical Society of Spain. He received his BS and PhD degrees in Earth sciences (geology) and an MS in conservation science from the University of Granada.

Encarnación Ruiz-Agudo is a research fellow at the University of Granada, Spain. She received a PhD from the University of Granada and then worked for 2 years as a Marie Curie research fellow at the Institut für Mineralogie of the University of Münster, Germany. In 2011 she received a Ramón y Cajal grant from the Spanish government and joined the Department of Mineralogy and Petrology of the University of

Granada. Her research focuses on fl uid–mineral interactions, and she has a particular interest in gaining a better understanding of the infl u-ence of organic and inorganic compounds on the nucleation and growth of minerals from multicomponent solutions.

Andrew G. Stack is a staff scientist in the Chemical Sciences Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He received his BS in geological sci-ences at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute, fol-lowed by an MS and PhD in geology at the University of Wyoming and a postdoctoral posi-tion in the Department of Chemistry at the University of California, Davis. His research aims at understanding and predicting geochemical

reactions involving mineral surfaces, in particular, growth and dissolu-tion processes. To study these, he utilizes experimental techniques such as atomic force microscopy as well as atomistic computational simula-tions. He is currently the program chair of the American Chemical Society's Geochemistry Division.

Henry H. Teng is an associate professor of chem-istry/geosciences and the director of the Environmental Resource Policy program at the George Washington University. He received his BS from Nanjing University, China, MS from Temple University in Philadelphia, and PhD from the Georgia Institute of Technology. His research interests lie in the general area of mineral-surface geochemistry (including biomediated interfacial

processes) and more particularly the thermodynamics and kinetics of crystal growth and dissolution. Recent collaborations with his chemistry colleagues expanded his research arena to include electrochemistry, where he is working on CO2 reduction and water splitting.

ELEMENTS JUNE 2013174

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