P.W. Gast Lecture


 About the P.W. Gast Lecture

This award is bestowed jointly by the EAG and the Geochemical Society and has been named in honor of Paul W. Gast, the first Goldschmidt medallist (the Goldschmidt award is bestowed by the Geochemical Society). This lectureship is awarded to a mid-career scientist for outstanding contributions to geochemistry. The lecture is presented as a plenary at the Goldschmidt Conference.

The selection of the lecturer alternates between the GS Board of Directors and the EAG Council depending on the location of the Goldschmidt Conference.

To be eligible, nominees must have received their PhD at least 10 years and no more than 25 years of full time equivalent research employ before the Goldschmidt conference at which the lecture is presented.
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.

The award is presented annually at the Goldschmidt Conference and consists in a certificate and an honorarium (1000 Euros).

About Paul W. Gast


Paul W. Gast (1930-1973)

During his career, Paul W. Gast pioneered the study of rare earth elements in examining the crust, mantle, and interior of the planet. He led the development of the use of rubidium-strontium and uranium-lead radiometric dating methods for rocks, particularly for samples returned from the Moon. His examinations of trace elements resulted in new understands of how volcanic fluids originate. Gast was the first recipient of the V.M. Goldschmidt Award.

Recipient of the 2024 P.W. Gast Lectureship: Jiubin Chen

Tianjin University, China

Jiubin Chen will present the 2024 Paul W. Gast Lecture ‘Tracing Metal Adventures from Earth to Life‘ as a plenary lecture at the Goldschmidt2024 Conference.

Jiubin Chen is a professor at the School of Earth-System Science (SESS), Tianjin University (China). He completed an undergraduate degree in Changchun Institute of Geology (now Jilin University) in China, and obtained both Master (DEA) and PhD degrees at the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPGP) in France, where he initialized a study on geochemistry of metal isotopes (Zn, Fe, Cu) in river system. Before moving back to China, he completed a post-doc on Hg isotopes at Trent University (Canada). From 2010 to 2018, he worked at the Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IGCAS). His major research interest is the geochemistry of metal isotopes, focusing on methodology development, fractionation mechanisms, and potential applications to various environments. More info

Former recipients of the P.W. Gast Lectureship

Click on the Lecture Title to watch the lecture.

Year Name Institution Lecture title
2023 Phoebe Lam University of California, Santa Cruz, USA Marine particle geochemistry: influence on biogeochemical cycles in the ocean
2022 Vanessa Hatje Universidade Federal da Bahia, Campus Ondina, Brazil Rare Earth Elements: Tracers of Natural and Anthropogenic Processes Along the Continent-Ocean Continuum
2021 Sonja Aulbach Goethe-University Frankfurt, Germany Chemical geodynamics with eclogite
2020 Jochen Brocks Australian National University, Australia Lost World of Complex Life: Molecular Traces of our Deepest Eukaryotic Ancestors
2019 Carrie Masiello Rice University, USA New Synthetic Biology Tools to Track Microbial Processes in Soils and Sediments
2018 Caroline Slomp Utrecht University, the Netherlands Oxygen Loss In Coastal Waters: Impact on Geochemical Cycles
2017 Shuhei Ono Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA Clumped Isotopologue (13CH3D) Fingerprinting of Methane Sources
2016 Shogo Tachibana Hokkaido University, Japan Chemical Evolution of the Solar System: Laboratory Experiments and Small-Body Explorations
2015 Ann Pearson University of Harvard, USA Organic Geochemical Proxies
2014 Tim Elliott University of Bristol, UK The Implications of a Non-Chondritic Terrestrial Mg Isotope Composition
2013 Sujoy Mukhopadhyay University of California Davis, USA Probing the Hadean World with Noble Gases
2012 Ros Rickaby University of Oxford, UK Tight coupling of life and metals throughout evolution
2011 Victoria Orphan Caltech, USA Microbial Partnerships and Methane-Oxidation in the Deep Sea
2010 Jérôme Chappellaz University of Grenoble, France Greenhouse Gases and their Isotopes in Firn Air and Ice Cores
2009 Ken Farley Caltech, USA Major events in the recent history of the solar system recorded by 3He in deep-sea sediments
2008 Jérôme Gaillardet IPGP, France Direct coupling between chemical and physical erosion rates in the West Indies
2007 Kate Freeman PennState University, USA Direct coupling between chemical and physical erosion rates in the West Indies
2006 John Eiler Caltech, USA Application of stable isotope geochemistry to elucidate processes and conditions on the Earth and other planets
2005 Eric Oelkers CNRS Toulouse, France Mineral Surface Reactivity from the Global to the Atomic Scale
2004 Peggy O’Day UC Merced, USA Cheeseburger in Paradise: Nutrients, Contaminants, and Cycling Across the Abiotic-Biotic Divide
2003 Hiroshi Ohmoto PennState University, USA Chemical and Biological Evolution of the Early Earth: A Minority Report
2002 Patricia Dove Virginia Tech, USA Deciphering the Physical Basis of Biomineralization through the Lens of Mineral Assembly
2001 Donald DePaolo UC Berkeley, USA Ca Isotope Geochemistry
2000 Jill Banfield UC Berkeley, USA
1999 Bernard J. Wood University of Oxford, UK Trace Element Partitioning: A Blunt Geochemical Instrument
1998 Everett Shock Arizona State University, USA
1997 Edouard Bard Collège de France, France Geochemical and Geophysical Implications of the Radiocarbon Calibration