Geochemist Jeff Catalano has been elected a fellow of the Mineralogical Society of America, one of only a handful of members to receive the honor this year.
Jeff Catalano, professor of Earth and planetary sciences, was elected a fellow of the Mineralogical Society of America (MSA). The honor recognizes Catalano’s outstanding contributions to the advancement of the fields of mineralogy, crystallography, geochemistry, and petrology. Each year, the MSA selects at most 0.5% of their members as new fellows.
“Being elected a fellow of the Mineralogical Society of America is a great honor,” Catalano said. “My research sits at the boundary between the fields of mineralogy and geochemistry. While many of the questions I pursue focus on the chemistry of Earth and other planets, I am a mineralogist by training and in how I approach science.”
Catalano’s research focuses on the geochemistry and mineralogy of terrestrial and planetary aquatic systems and spans disciplines including environmental biogeochemistry, planetary geochemistry, and geobiology. Catalano and his lab group aim to understand element and nutrient cycling in wetlands, the fate of environmental contaminants, and mineral weathering and transformations on Earth, Mars, and other planetary bodies. They are also part of the collaborative Earth First Origins project, supported by NASA’s Astrobiology Program, that seeks to explore the conditions on early Earth that gave rise to life.
