Elements Executive Committee

ABOUT THE COMMITTEE

The Executive Committee is responsible for the management of Elements.

The Executive Committee:

  • provides the financial oversight for Elements and approves the annual budget and cost allocation to the Participating Societies;
  • provides timely information to the appropriate officers, committees and staff of the Participating Societies;
  • approves the appointments of the Principal Editors and Executive Editor of Elements;

The Executive Committee consists of members (one per Participating Society) are appointed by their respective Participating Society. The Participating Societies are responsible for the selection of their representative on the Executive Committee.  Affiliated Organizations do not have membership on the Executive Committee.

Klaus Mezger
Institute for Geological Sciences
University of Bern
Baltzerstrasse 1+3
3012 Bern Switzerland
E-mail: klaus.mezger@unibe.ch

Research Interests

Geochemistry, cosmochemistry, isotopes, geochronology, mineralogy, origin and evolution of planets, formation of continental crust.

Ryan Noble
CSIRO
PO Box 1130
Bentley, WA, 6102
Australia
E-mail: Ryan.Noble@csiro.au

Research Interests

Regolith and groundwater geochemistry with a focus on trace metal migration and improving techniques for mineral exploration.

Daniel J. Frost
Bayerisches Geoinstitut
University of Bayreuth
DE-95447 Bayreuth, Germany
E-mail: dan.frost@uni-bayreuth.de

Research Interests

The physical and chemical state of the Earth’s interior. The accretion and differentiation of the Earth and the composition of the core.

Ben Tutolo
University of Calgary
Department of Geoscience
Earth Science 550, 2500 University Dr. NW
Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4 CANADA
E-mail: benjamin.tutolo@ucalgary.ca

Research Interests

I study how interactions between water, rocks, and gases affect life on Earth and Mars. To do this, I bring together techniques from the fields of hydrogeology, geochemistry, and mineralogy. Primary research projects currently include developing electrochemical CO2 capture and basalt carbonation as climate change solutions and interpreting the geologic history of Mars as recorded in the sediments of Gale Crater, often with help from studies of analogous systems here on Earth.

Alicia (Cici) Cruz-Uribe
School of Earth and Climate Sciences
5790 Bryand Global Sciences Center
Orono, ME 04469-5790
E-mail: alicia.cruzuribe@maine.edu

Research Interests Interested in metamorphic petrology and geochemistry, particularly of subduction zone rocks. She is the head of the MAGIC Laboratory and oversees the Experimental Petrology Laboratory at the University of Maine.
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Orfan Shouakar-Stash
University of Waterloo
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
E-mail: orfan@uwaterloo.ca

Research Interests

Interests relate to the development and implementation of isotopic tools in organic and inorganic contaminant investigations, and for studies of water quality analysis.

Jens Andersen

Camborne School of Mines
University of Exeter
Penryn Campus
Penryn, Cornwall
TR10 9FE
United Kingdom
E-mail: J.C.Andersen@exeter.ac.uk

Research Interests

Petrology, geochemistry, ore formation and raw material extraction in igneous and magmatic-hydrothermal environments. Layered mafic-ultramafic intrusions, granites, and granite-related vein systems. Critical metal mineralization and exploration (platinum-group elements, cobalt, nickel, indium, tin, tungsten). Applied mineralogy and geometallurgy. Understanding how metal deportment influences processing efficiency, co-product recovery and leaching of metals into the environment.

Toru Inoue

Hiroshima University

Department of Earth and Planetary Systems Science
Kagamiyama 1-3-1, Higashi-Hiroshima 739-8526,
Japan
E-mail: toinoue@hiroshima-u.ac.jp

Research Interests

Deep Earth geophysics and mineral physics, especially focusing on the effects of water on deep Earth materials

Catherine (Cari) Corrigan, Chair of Executive Committee
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of Natural History
Dept. of Mineral Sciences; MRC-119
10th St. and Constitution Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20560, USA
E-mail: corriganc@si.edu

Research Interests

Geochemistry of Martian meteorites and impact melts in ordinary chondrites.  She has also worked on the Opportunity Rover PanCam team and on iron meteorites, lunar meteorites and terrestrial impact rocks.

Prof. David R Lentz PhD PGeo FGC FSEG
UNB Research Chair in Economic Geology
Dept of Earth Sciences
University of New Brunswick
2 Bailey Drive
Fredericton, NB E3B5A3
Canada
E-mail: dlentz@unb.ca

Research Interests

David’s research focuses on magmatic–hydrothermal mineralizing processes across diverse ore systems, including massive-sulfide deposits, porphyry Cu–Mo–Au systems, granophile and skarn systems, IOA/IOCG deposits, and Li–Cs–Ta–Sn and U–REE pegmatites relevant to the Green Transition. He is particularly interested in magma–carbonate interaction and its controls on mineralization, vapour saturation, skarn formation, and long-term atmospheric CO2 release.

Barb Dutrow
Louisiana State University
Department of Geology & Geophysics
E235 Howe-Russell Bldg
Baton Rouge LA 70803-4101 United States
E-mail: dutrow@lsu.edu

Research Interests

Metamorphic petrology and mineralogy in regards to the development of metamorphic terranes. Her research combines geologic field mapping, geochemical and mineral chemical data, theoretical analyses and experimental work.

Mark E. Hodson
Environment Department
University of York
York YO10 5DD United Kingdom
E-mail: mark.hodson@york.ac.uk

Research Interests

Low-temperature biogeochemistry with specific focus on mineral dissolution, soil contamination and remediation and earthworm ecology and ecotoxicology

Marek Michalik
Jagiellonian University
Institute of Geological Sciences
ul. Gronostajowa 3a
Krakow PL-30-387
Poland
E-mail: marek.michalik@uj.edu.pl

Research Interests

Mineralogy and geochemistry of low-temperature processes; aerosols (origin and sources); biomass and coal combustion products; utilization of slags and ashes; igneous petrology

Isabel Abad
Departamento de Geología
Universidad de Jaén
23071 Jaén
España
E-mail: miabad@ujaen.es

Research Interests
Mineral transformations in low-temperature environments with a special focus on clay minerals in low-grade metamorphism, fault rocks, and hydrothermal processes.

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Katerina Dontsova
University of Arizona
Shantz Building Rm 515
1177 E 4th St.
Tucson, AZ 85721
E-mail: dontsova@arizona.edu

Dontova_Katerina

Research Interests
Soil chemistry and mineralogy, inorganic and organic carbon sequestration in the soils during biological weathering, fate and transport of organic contaminants in soils.

Sylvie Demouchy
Laboratoire Magmas et Volcans
Université Clermont Auvergne
6 Avenue Blaise Pascal
63178 AUBIERE Cedex
France
E-mail: sylvie.demouchy@uca.fr

Research Interests

high-pressure and high-temperature experimental geochemistry and mineral physics

Costanza Bonadiman
Dept. Physics and Earth Sciences
University of Ferrara
Via Saragat, 1
44100 Ferrara, Italy
E-mail: 

costanza.bonadiman@unife.it

Research Interests

Petrology and geochemistry of mantle xenoliths to understand the composition and evolution in time and space of the Earth’s mantle.

Jörg Hermann

Institute for Geological Sciences
University of Bern
Baltzerstrasse 1+3
3012 Bern Switzerland
E-mail: 

joerg.hermann@geo.unibe.ch

Research Interests

Process-oriented, interdisciplinary studies of crystalline rocks; subduction processes in the Alps; deep water and carbon cycles; formation and differentiation of continental crust and orogenic cycles, accessory phases in petrology and diffusion in minerals

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December 2025 --The Variscan Orogeny in Europe – Understanding Supercontinent Formation

The Variscan orogen formed between 380 and 300 million years ago through several accretionary and collisional cycles, culminating with the construction of the Pangea supercontinent. This process occurred via sequential opening and closure of oceanic basins, synchronous detachment of Gondwana derived continental ribbons, and their outboard amalgamation onto the Laurussia margin. The Variscan orogen is rather unique compared with other orogenic belts on Earth: its overthickened and dominantly magmatic crust in the central belt, surprisingly minor mantle involvement in the magmatic and geodynamic processes, coherent and pulsed magmatism along the collision suture, and its complex accretionary history. Because its final product, Pangea, is the youngest and best-understood supercontinent on Earth, the Variscan orogeny offers clues for understanding the mechanisms of supercontinent formation.