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 2023 P.W. Gast Lectureship: Phoebe Lam

University of California, Santa Cruz, USA

Phoebe Lam will present the 2023 Paul W. Gast Lecture as a plenary lecture at the Goldschmidt2023 Conference.

Lecture: ‘Marine particle geochemistry: influence on biogeochemical cycles in the ocean’

Recipients of the P.W. Gast Lectureship

Click on the Lecture Title to watch the lecture.

YearNameInstitutionLecture title
2022Vanessa HatjeUniversidade Federal da Bahia, Campus Ondina, BrazilRare Earth Elements: Tracers of Natural and Anthropogenic Processes Along the Continent-Ocean Continuum
2021Sonja AulbachGoethe-University Frankfurt, GermanyChemical geodynamics with eclogite
2020Jochen BrocksAustralian National University, AustraliaLost World of Complex Life: Molecular Traces of our Deepest Eukaryotic Ancestors
2019Carrie MasielloRice University, USANew Synthetic Biology Tools to Track Microbial Processes in Soils and Sediments
2018Caroline SlompUtrecht University, the NetherlandsOxygen Loss In Coastal Waters: Impact on Geochemical Cycles
2017Shuhei OnoMassachusetts Institute of Technology, USAClumped Isotopologue (13CH3D) Fingerprinting of Methane Sources
2016Shogo TachibanaHokkaido University, JapanChemical Evolution of the Solar System: Laboratory Experiments and Small-Body Explorations
2015Ann PearsonUniversity of Harvard, USAOrganic Geochemical Proxies
2014Tim ElliottUniversity of Bristol, UKThe Implications of a Non-Chondritic Terrestrial Mg Isotope Composition
2013Sujoy MukhopadhyayUniversity of California Davis, USAProbing the Hadean World with Noble Gases
2012Ros RickabyUniversity of Oxford, UKTight coupling of life and metals throughout evolution
2011Victoria OrphanCaltech, USAMicrobial Partnerships and Methane-Oxidation in the Deep Sea
2010Jérôme ChappellazUniversity of Grenoble, FranceGreenhouse Gases and their Isotopes in Firn Air and Ice Cores
2009Ken FarleyCaltech, USAMajor events in the recent history of the solar system recorded by 3He in deep-sea sediments
2008Jérôme GaillardetIPGP, FranceDirect coupling between chemical and physical erosion rates in the West Indies
2007Kate FreemanPennState University, USADirect coupling between chemical and physical erosion rates in the West Indies
2006John EilerCaltech, USAApplication of stable isotope geochemistry to elucidate processes and conditions on the Earth and other planets
2005Eric OelkersCNRS Toulouse, FranceMineral Surface Reactivity from the Global to the Atomic Scale
2004Peggy O’DayUC Merced, USACheeseburger in Paradise: Nutrients, Contaminants, and Cycling Across the Abiotic-Biotic Divide
2003Hiroshi OhmotoPennState University, USAChemical and Biological Evolution of the Early Earth: A Minority Report
2002Patricia DoveVirginia Tech, USADeciphering the Physical Basis of Biomineralization through the Lens of Mineral Assembly
2001Donald DePaoloUC Berkeley, USACa Isotope Geochemistry
2000Jill BanfieldUC Berkeley, USA
1999Bernard J. WoodUniversity of Oxford, UKTrace Element Partitioning: A Blunt Geochemical Instrument
1998Everett ShockArizona State University, USA
1997Edouard BardCollège de France, FranceGeochemical and Geophysical Implications of the Radiocarbon Calibration