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Acceptance of the 2002 F. W. Clarke Award
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, Vol. 67, No. 13, pp. 2315–2316, 2003 Copyright © 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd Printed in the USA. All rights reserved 0016-7037/03 $30.00 ⫹ .00
Pergamon
doi:10.1016/S0016-7037(03)00056-5
Acceptance of the 2002 F. W. Clarke Award RUTH ELAINE BLAKE Department of Geology and Geophysics Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA
Thank you, Lynn, for that wonderful introduction. I am truly honored to receive the 2002 F. W. Clarke Medal and join the group of outstanding geochemists who have received this award in years past. I extend my sincere thanks to President McKenzie and to the members of the Geochemical Society for this great honor. I am also grateful for this opportunity to give brief thanks to some very special people who have influenced and encouraged me along the way and helped shape my career as a geochemist. My academic path was somewhat unusual in that I was able to conduct geological research early on as a senior at Renaissance High School in Detroit, Michigan. This opportunity was made possible by the vision and commitment of two enthusiastic young professors at nearby Wayne State University. I am deeply indebted to Stuart Birnbaum and Alan Morris, who instituted an educational outreach program designed to expose precollege students to the exciting field of geology by taking them on a field trip, followed by a departmental open house and the opportunity to interact with graduate students. That single hands-on experience, followed by a summer of laboratory research in metamorphic petrology, supervised by then MS student Daria Walniuk (now Daria Ague) would turn out to have a profound effect on my future and career path. I thank Daria for allowing a high school student into her research laboratory, for giving me the opportunity to experience graduate-level research firsthand, and for teaching me to make thin sections, which I thought were about the coolest thing that I had ever seen. I simply had to learn more about the minerals that comprised these thin sections! I also saw geology as the perfect way to combine my interests in chemistry, physics, and biology toward the study of natural systems. While an undergraduate student majoring in geology at Wayne State University, my research interests were also shaped strongly by my experience working as a reservoir-engineering geologist for the Michigan–Wisconsin Pipeline Company, now the American Natural Resources/Coastal Corporation. It was there that I began experimental research in low-temperature aqueous geochemistry through investigations of mineral dissolution and fluid-rock reactions in natural gas reservoirs. After earning a bachelor of science degree in geology, I worked as a technician in the stable isotope laboratory at the Center for Groundwater Research at the University of Texas, San Antonio. It was there that the late Dr. Donald R. Lewis—a wonderful mentor and teacher—introduced me to the world of stable isotope geochemistry. I also had the privilege to work in the laboratories of Drs. Roberto Pabalan and William Murphy at Southwest Research Institute, where I was exposed to theoretical and computational geochemical approaches and to the rigors of laboratory experimental design. I became intrigued with microbially mediated reactions and isotope biogeochemistry and began research on stable isotope tracers of microbial
and water-rock interactions in groundwater systems, leading to an master’s degree in geology and hydrogeology. My growing interest in subsurface fluid chemistry and water–rock reactions led me to the work and publications of Dr. Lynn Walter at the University of Michigan. After reading one of Lynn’s papers on basinal brine geochemistry, I was compelled to contact her and arranged to meet with her during an upcoming visit home to Michigan for the Christmas holiday. When I first called Lynn, I didn’t know that Jim O’Neil was also on the faculty of the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Michigan. I was beyond thrilled to see Jim’s name on the schedule for my informal visit. Meeting Jim would turn out to be one of the most profound events shaping my future career path. After that visit to Michigan, I was convinced to pursue doctoral studies at the University of Michigan with Jim and Lynn. For me this was a perfect combination of my interests in experimental aqueous geochemistry and isotope biogeochemistry. After arriving in Ann Arbor, I began work with Lynn, studying the effects of organic metabolites on aluminosilicate and quartz dissolution. Lynn Walter was a wonderful advisor and mentor and has profoundly affected my career. Thank you, Lynn, for setting a stellar example of success as a scientific researcher. During my second semester at Michigan, I had the privilege of taking a course in geochemistry from Jim O’Neil and be2315
2316
R. E. Blake
came especially intrigued by a lecture on the oxygen isotope geochemistry of biogenic phosphate, in which Jim mentioned some experiments involving bacteria that he was eager to pursue. What began as a directed research side project became a major portion of my dissertation research and put me on the path to pursuing my passion for biochemistry while remaining a geochemist! Mere words cannot express my gratitude to James R. O’Neil. Jim has had the greatest impact of all. A wonderful mentor, advisor, and friend, who has both inspired and challenged me through endless conversations about science, and who, above all, believed in me right from the start. I am also grateful to George A. Garcia, professor of medicinal chemistry and enzymology in the College of Pharmacy at the University of Michigan, for his invaluable training in mechanistic enzymology, consultation on the design of experiments, and for having an open mind about tossing rocks and minerals into perfectly clean enzyme preparations! Thanks also to Dr. Ted Huston in the Department of Geological Sciences for guiding me in the operation of many, many laboratory instruments and for always being willing to listen and to discuss analytical techniques. From my experiences at the University of Michigan and work in Dr. Garcia’s laboratory, I became fascinated by the unique and critical roles played by PO4 in living systems. Despite these critical roles, living systems have been treated somewhat as “black boxes” with respect to PO4 oxygen isotope studies. My oxygen isotope studies approach has been to go inside the black box of intracellular reactions of PO4 in living cells and to use the oxygen isotope effects that accompany reactions involving PO4 to understand the biogeochemical cycling of P in nature. Laboratory studies on the oxygen isotope systematics of microbial and enzymatic reactions of PO4 at the University of Michigan suggested first that PO4 behaves differently than other bioelements and is often dominated by overall equilibrium isotope effects. Second, due to intense biological cycling, PO4 is not a conservative tracer of source but rather a dynamic tracer of process. And third, the unique isotopic properties of PO4 could be exploited in a range of new applications from marine geochemistry to astrobiology and the search for life on Mars. In 1997, my good fortune to meet Dr. Catherine Skinner
resulted in an National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship award to pursue these new applications further at Yale University. My recent research at Yale as a postdoctoral fellow and later as a faculty member has focused on development of phosphate standards, interlaboratory calibration of different techniques for PO4 oxygen isotope analysis, and the development of new applications of PO4 oxygen isotope ratios to studies of P cycling in marine and aquatic systems, groundwater and hydrothermal vents, chronostratigraphy, the P-redox cycle, and the deep biosphere. I have learned that patience and an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the details of seemingly complex systems can reveal useful properties and lead to new paradigms. I have continued to make detailed studies of isotopic systematics of microbial and enzymatic reactions with an outstanding group of graduate students (Albert Colman, Yuhong Liang, Jane Halverson, Megan Andrews) and postdoctoral fellows (James Greenwood, Alexandr Surkov, Scott Coomber) at Yale. I am thankful for the enthusiastic support of faculty members and colleagues at Yale including Danny Rye, Cathy Skinner, Bob Berner, and especially Karl Turekian, who is first and foremost a wonderful human being and friend who never ceases to amaze me with his energy and drive. Finally, some personal thanks are in order. To my friends and former colleagues at the University of Texas, Darrell Sims and Barbara Everett, and at the University of Michigan, Anna Martini, Maria Kopicki, Vicky Hover, Kia Baptist, Tim Lyons and Tim Ku. And especially to my family, all of whom, I am thrilled to say, took the time to travel all the way to Davos to share this tremendous honor with me and are in the audience today. To my mother, Bessie Ruth Blake, who always instilled in me the belief that, with God’s help, I can do anything I set my mind to do; to my father, Allen Blake, who passed on his mechanical ingenuity and natural skill for building and tinkering to me; these skills have proved invaluable for designing and constructing experimental systems; and to my two sisters Lisa Harris and Jacqui Crawley, who have been a never-ending source of support, love, and laughter. And to my dear friends, Michael North, Cecile Thompson, and Cherylene Sims. Again, my most sincere thanks to the Geochemical Society for honoring me with this award.
Pergamon
doi:10.1016/S0016-7037(03)00056-5
Acceptance of the 2002 F. W. Clarke Award RUTH ELAINE BLAKE Department of Geology and Geophysics Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA
Thank you, Lynn, for that wonderful introduction. I am truly honored to receive the 2002 F. W. Clarke Medal and join the group of outstanding geochemists who have received this award in years past. I extend my sincere thanks to President McKenzie and to the members of the Geochemical Society for this great honor. I am also grateful for this opportunity to give brief thanks to some very special people who have influenced and encouraged me along the way and helped shape my career as a geochemist. My academic path was somewhat unusual in that I was able to conduct geological research early on as a senior at Renaissance High School in Detroit, Michigan. This opportunity was made possible by the vision and commitment of two enthusiastic young professors at nearby Wayne State University. I am deeply indebted to Stuart Birnbaum and Alan Morris, who instituted an educational outreach program designed to expose precollege students to the exciting field of geology by taking them on a field trip, followed by a departmental open house and the opportunity to interact with graduate students. That single hands-on experience, followed by a summer of laboratory research in metamorphic petrology, supervised by then MS student Daria Walniuk (now Daria Ague) would turn out to have a profound effect on my future and career path. I thank Daria for allowing a high school student into her research laboratory, for giving me the opportunity to experience graduate-level research firsthand, and for teaching me to make thin sections, which I thought were about the coolest thing that I had ever seen. I simply had to learn more about the minerals that comprised these thin sections! I also saw geology as the perfect way to combine my interests in chemistry, physics, and biology toward the study of natural systems. While an undergraduate student majoring in geology at Wayne State University, my research interests were also shaped strongly by my experience working as a reservoir-engineering geologist for the Michigan–Wisconsin Pipeline Company, now the American Natural Resources/Coastal Corporation. It was there that I began experimental research in low-temperature aqueous geochemistry through investigations of mineral dissolution and fluid-rock reactions in natural gas reservoirs. After earning a bachelor of science degree in geology, I worked as a technician in the stable isotope laboratory at the Center for Groundwater Research at the University of Texas, San Antonio. It was there that the late Dr. Donald R. Lewis—a wonderful mentor and teacher—introduced me to the world of stable isotope geochemistry. I also had the privilege to work in the laboratories of Drs. Roberto Pabalan and William Murphy at Southwest Research Institute, where I was exposed to theoretical and computational geochemical approaches and to the rigors of laboratory experimental design. I became intrigued with microbially mediated reactions and isotope biogeochemistry and began research on stable isotope tracers of microbial
and water-rock interactions in groundwater systems, leading to an master’s degree in geology and hydrogeology. My growing interest in subsurface fluid chemistry and water–rock reactions led me to the work and publications of Dr. Lynn Walter at the University of Michigan. After reading one of Lynn’s papers on basinal brine geochemistry, I was compelled to contact her and arranged to meet with her during an upcoming visit home to Michigan for the Christmas holiday. When I first called Lynn, I didn’t know that Jim O’Neil was also on the faculty of the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Michigan. I was beyond thrilled to see Jim’s name on the schedule for my informal visit. Meeting Jim would turn out to be one of the most profound events shaping my future career path. After that visit to Michigan, I was convinced to pursue doctoral studies at the University of Michigan with Jim and Lynn. For me this was a perfect combination of my interests in experimental aqueous geochemistry and isotope biogeochemistry. After arriving in Ann Arbor, I began work with Lynn, studying the effects of organic metabolites on aluminosilicate and quartz dissolution. Lynn Walter was a wonderful advisor and mentor and has profoundly affected my career. Thank you, Lynn, for setting a stellar example of success as a scientific researcher. During my second semester at Michigan, I had the privilege of taking a course in geochemistry from Jim O’Neil and be2315
2316
R. E. Blake
came especially intrigued by a lecture on the oxygen isotope geochemistry of biogenic phosphate, in which Jim mentioned some experiments involving bacteria that he was eager to pursue. What began as a directed research side project became a major portion of my dissertation research and put me on the path to pursuing my passion for biochemistry while remaining a geochemist! Mere words cannot express my gratitude to James R. O’Neil. Jim has had the greatest impact of all. A wonderful mentor, advisor, and friend, who has both inspired and challenged me through endless conversations about science, and who, above all, believed in me right from the start. I am also grateful to George A. Garcia, professor of medicinal chemistry and enzymology in the College of Pharmacy at the University of Michigan, for his invaluable training in mechanistic enzymology, consultation on the design of experiments, and for having an open mind about tossing rocks and minerals into perfectly clean enzyme preparations! Thanks also to Dr. Ted Huston in the Department of Geological Sciences for guiding me in the operation of many, many laboratory instruments and for always being willing to listen and to discuss analytical techniques. From my experiences at the University of Michigan and work in Dr. Garcia’s laboratory, I became fascinated by the unique and critical roles played by PO4 in living systems. Despite these critical roles, living systems have been treated somewhat as “black boxes” with respect to PO4 oxygen isotope studies. My oxygen isotope studies approach has been to go inside the black box of intracellular reactions of PO4 in living cells and to use the oxygen isotope effects that accompany reactions involving PO4 to understand the biogeochemical cycling of P in nature. Laboratory studies on the oxygen isotope systematics of microbial and enzymatic reactions of PO4 at the University of Michigan suggested first that PO4 behaves differently than other bioelements and is often dominated by overall equilibrium isotope effects. Second, due to intense biological cycling, PO4 is not a conservative tracer of source but rather a dynamic tracer of process. And third, the unique isotopic properties of PO4 could be exploited in a range of new applications from marine geochemistry to astrobiology and the search for life on Mars. In 1997, my good fortune to meet Dr. Catherine Skinner
resulted in an National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship award to pursue these new applications further at Yale University. My recent research at Yale as a postdoctoral fellow and later as a faculty member has focused on development of phosphate standards, interlaboratory calibration of different techniques for PO4 oxygen isotope analysis, and the development of new applications of PO4 oxygen isotope ratios to studies of P cycling in marine and aquatic systems, groundwater and hydrothermal vents, chronostratigraphy, the P-redox cycle, and the deep biosphere. I have learned that patience and an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the details of seemingly complex systems can reveal useful properties and lead to new paradigms. I have continued to make detailed studies of isotopic systematics of microbial and enzymatic reactions with an outstanding group of graduate students (Albert Colman, Yuhong Liang, Jane Halverson, Megan Andrews) and postdoctoral fellows (James Greenwood, Alexandr Surkov, Scott Coomber) at Yale. I am thankful for the enthusiastic support of faculty members and colleagues at Yale including Danny Rye, Cathy Skinner, Bob Berner, and especially Karl Turekian, who is first and foremost a wonderful human being and friend who never ceases to amaze me with his energy and drive. Finally, some personal thanks are in order. To my friends and former colleagues at the University of Texas, Darrell Sims and Barbara Everett, and at the University of Michigan, Anna Martini, Maria Kopicki, Vicky Hover, Kia Baptist, Tim Lyons and Tim Ku. And especially to my family, all of whom, I am thrilled to say, took the time to travel all the way to Davos to share this tremendous honor with me and are in the audience today. To my mother, Bessie Ruth Blake, who always instilled in me the belief that, with God’s help, I can do anything I set my mind to do; to my father, Allen Blake, who passed on his mechanical ingenuity and natural skill for building and tinkering to me; these skills have proved invaluable for designing and constructing experimental systems; and to my two sisters Lisa Harris and Jacqui Crawley, who have been a never-ending source of support, love, and laughter. And to my dear friends, Michael North, Cecile Thompson, and Cherylene Sims. Again, my most sincere thanks to the Geochemical Society for honoring me with this award.