R. Berner Lecture
About the R. Berner Lecture
Robert Berner
(1935-2015)
This annual award is bestowed to a mid-career scientist shown to have made exceptional contributions to define globally important biogeochemical processes, developed new understanding(s), and significantly advanced this area of research.
The lecture was established in 2017 by students and friends of the late Robert Berner to commemorate his intellectual legacy in geochemistry. It is a joint program of the Geochemical Society and the European Association of Geochemistry, presented as an annual lecture at the Goldschmidt Conference.
The lecture is on a ‘Berner’ subject, which includes a wide range of topics associated with elemental cycling at the Earth’s surface (molecular to planetary scale, modern to ancient oceanic and terrestrial systems, evolution of the biosphere, etc).
Lecturers are selected by the Berner Lecture Committee, then approved by the Geochemical Society and the European Association of Geochemistry.
To be eligible, nominees should be a mid-career scientist who has received their PhD at least 10 years and no more than 21 years of full time equivalent scientific employ before the Goldschmidt conference at which the lecture is presented; hence, for the 2025 Berner Lecture, the lecturer should have received his/her PhD between 2004 and 2015 (but see information on career breaks here).
Nominations of underrepresented groups are encouraged.
We are committed to promoting the diversity of our awardees, to recognizing a wide range of different types of exceptional contribution, and we acknowledge the different career paths that lead to the achievement of such contributions.
Nomination requirements:
- Nominee’s CV (up to 4 pages)
- List of publications
- List of recent presentations and link to webpage, if available
- A recommendation letter from the nominator (up to 2 pages)
Berner Lecture Selection Committee
| Name | Affiliation |
|---|---|
| Chair: Kathleen Ruttenberg | University of Hawaii at Manoa, USA |
| Megan Andrews |
North Carolina State University, USA |
| David Burdige |
Old Dominion University, USA |
| Joshua West | University of Southern California, USA |
| Simon Poulton | University of Leeds, UK |
| Caroline Slomp | University of Utrecht, The Netherlands |
Support the Lecture
Contributions to the Berner Lecture Fund go directly to supporting the lecturer’s travel to Goldschmidt every year.
Recipient of the 2024 R. Berner Lectureship:
Sarah Greene
University of Birmingham, UK
The 2024 R. Berner Lecture was presented at the Goldschmidt2024 conference.
Past Lecturers
| Year | Lecturer | Institution | Lecture title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Valier Galy | Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, USA | Geomorphic and climatic controls of the terrestrial organic carbon cycle (video) |
| 2022 | Colleen Hansel | Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, USA | Complexity of synergistic and competing reactions involved in setting manganese oxide distributions within surface waters |
| 2021 | Sasha Turchyn | University of Cambridge, UK | Exploring diagenesis inanoxic sediments |
| 2020 | Andreas Andersson | Scripps Institution of Oceanography, USA | How Will Anthropogenic CO2 Affect Shallow Water Calcium Carbonate Sediment Dissolution? (video) |
| 2019 | Filip Meysman | University of Antwerp, Belgium | Did the Evolution of Microbes and Fauna in the Seabed Impact Atmospheric Oxygen and Climate?’ |
| 2018 | Simon Poulton | University of Leeds, UK | Exploring Earth’s Redox Landscape |
| 2017 | Joshua West | University of Southern California, USA | Sources of Atmospheric CO2 over Geologic Time |