Costanza Bonadonna is an associate professor at Johann P . Engelbrecht is a research professor at the University of Geneva, Switzerland, and director the Desert Research Institute (DRI), Reno, Nevada. of the CERG, a specialized program for the assess­ He holds a BSc in physics and chemistry, and a BSc ment and management of geological risk. After (Hons), MSc, and PhD (1987) in from the completing her PhD at the , she University of Pretoria (South Africa). He has worked was awarded the position of Young Investigator at in the fields of petrology, geochemistry, miner­ the University of Hawai‘i, and she was later alogy, applied mineralogy and, more recently, appointed assistant professor at the University of atmospheric science, specializing in multivariate South Florida. Most of her research is devoted to modeling sedimentation data analysis and receptor modeling. His current research includes from volcanic plumes, exploring new methodologies for the characteriza­ characterizing windblown mineral dust, pertaining to potential health tion of -fall deposits, investigating the dynamics of basaltic explo­ effects and global climate change. As a visiting professor at the sive eruptions, and developing probabilistic analysis techniques for the Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain (2009), he pursued assessment of tephra-fall hazards and the quantification of risk. his research on windblown Saharan dust. Peter R . Buseck is a Regents’ Professor at Arizona Guenter Engling is currently an assistant professor State University. His degrees, all in geology, are in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and from Antioch College and Columbia University, Environmental Sciences at National Tsing Hua and he was a postdoctoral student at the University in Taiwan. When he started writing his Geophysical Laboratory in Washington, DC. He article in this issue, he was a group leader of the conducts research on (1) crystal structures and Aerosol Chemistry Lab at the Research Center for effects in minerals at the atomic level using high- Environmental Changes at Academia Sinica in resolution transmission electron microscopy; (2) Taiwan. Dr. Engling’s research interests include the the geochemistry and mineralogy of primitive meteorites; and (3) the chemical characterization of carbonaceous aerosol particles, specifically nature of aerosol particles such as airborne minerals, soot, and other those derived from biogenic sources and biomass burning. small grains, their chemical and physical reactions (e.g. deliquescence, Santiago Gassó is a researcher at the University efflorescence) in the atmosphere, and their effects on air quality and of Maryland, Baltimore County, and NASA. His climate change. main interest is aerosol detection using remote Edward Derbyshire is Research Professor in sensing, with applications in fields such as the Quaternary Science at Royal Holloway, University study of dust transport to high-latitude environ­ of London, UK, and an honorary professor of the ments. He works on interdisciplinary subjects like Gansu Academy of Sciences, China. Formerly sec­ the detection of aerosols of marine biological retary-general of the International Union for origin and the assessment of whether dust deposi­ Quaternary Research (INQUA) 1991–1995, he is tion impacts on phytoplankton productivity. He is a team member of currently Secretary for Foreign and External Affairs two satellite missions (NPP and OMI) and participates in the proposed of the Geological Society of London. He holds the NASA satellite mission ACE, where he leads the Aerosol–Ocean Antarctic Service Medal of the United States and the 2008 Varnes Medal Interactions science working group. of the International Consortium on Landslides. He has done research András Gelencsér is a full professor at the on all six continents and has authored or edited more than 260 scien­ University of Pannonia and head of the Air tific articles, including 6 books and several conference volumes. Chemistry Group. He received his MSc and PhD Volker Dietze is head of the Particle Laboratory from the University of Veszprém. His main research (Air Quality Department, German Meteorological interest is atmospheric aerosol chemistry, in par­ Service) in Freiburg, Germany. The laboratory is ticular the chemical characterization and source responsible for operational air-quality measure­ apportionment of fine organic aerosol, and sec­ ments in German health and recreation resorts, ondary organic aerosol formation in multiphase and also collaborates with universities and medical reactions, with special emphasis on humic-like substances and brown institutions in various research projects and air carbon. He has been the principal investigator on several international quality studies. Research projects are being carried research projects, including CARBOSOL and OOMPH. He has authored out in Greenland, South America, Asia, and Antarctica. Volker Dietze more than 60 peer-reviewed publications and a monograph entitled works mainly on passive sampler techniques and single-particle analysis Carbonaceous Aerosol, published by Springer. for coarse particulate matter. Over the last 25 years, his main research Reto Gieré received his PhD in Earth sciences from topics have been in automated optical microscopy, in combination with ETH Zürich and gained extensive teaching and computerized image processing and analysis systems. research experience at the University of Basel, the Adam J . Durant is a research associate in the Carnegie Institution of Washington, Argonne Centre for Atmospheric Science, University of National Laboratory, the Australian Nuclear Cambridge, UK. His research aims at building link­ Science and Technology Organisation, and Purdue ages between heterogeneous ice nucleation in University, where he was a tenured professor. atmospheric clouds, particle sedimen­ Currently he is Professor of Geochemistry and tation, the atmospheric and climatic impacts of Dean of Student Affairs at the University of Freiburg. His research is volcanic emissions and desert dust, and the human focused on environmental mineralogy and applied geochemistry. He health impacts of airborne particulates. His current is on the editorial board of the Journal of Petrology and is a book advisor research focuses on laboratory and field studies of atmospheric processes for the Geological Society of London. He is a fellow of both the (related to volcanic emissions and the carbon cycle) using state-of-the- Mineralogical Society of America and the Geological Society of London. art miniature electrochemical and optical sensors, wireless sensor net­ works, and experimental measurement platforms. (Cont’d on page 212)

Elements 210 August 2010 (Cont’d from page 210) Vicki h . Grassian was recently named the F. Wendell Ron L . Miller received his doctorate in meteo­ Miller Professor of Chemistry at the University of rology from the Massachusetts Institute of Iowa and holds additional appointments in the Technology in 1990. Since then, he has been at Departments of Chemical and Biochemical the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Sciences in Engineering and Occupational and Environmental New York City, where he is a physical scientist. He Health. Her research interests include heterogeneous is also an adjunct professor in the Department of atmospheric chemistry, the climate impact of atmo­ Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics at spheric aerosols, and fundamental studies of envi­ Columbia University. His research interests include ronmental interfaces. She has over 175 peer-reviewed publications, has the mechanisms of climate change and the effect of aerosols on present written 15 book chapters, and has edited 3 books. She currently serves on and past climates. the editorial boards of five journals, including the Journal of Physical Xavier Querol is a research professor at the Chemistry, Atmospheric Environment, and Aerosol Science and Technology. Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Bernard Grobéty is a professor of applied miner­ Research (IDAEA) of the Spanish Research Council alogy at the Department of Geosciences at the (CSIC). He obtained a PhD in geology at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. He received University of Barcelona and occupied a postdoc­ his PhD in Earth sciences at ETH Zürich working toral position at the British Geological Survey. He on crystallographic defects in silicate minerals. does research on trace pollutants in coal, on the After postdoctoral appointments at Johns Hopkins balance and fate of trace inorganic pollutants in University and the Smithsonian Institution, he power plants, and on trace and major particulate pollutants in the spent three years as lecturer at the University of atmosphere at industrial, urban, rural, and remote sites. He is an author Aarhus before returning to Switzerland. His current research interests or coauthor of about 200 research articles. He has been or is a member include environmental mineralogy, particularly the study of natural of a number of expert and working groups from the program Clean Air aerosols such as desert dust and particles emitted by volcanoes. A second for Europe (EC) and UN-ECE. field of interest is materials science–related mineralogy, i.e. asbestos Peter Stille obtained his PhD in Earth sciences replacement and nanoceramics. from the University of Berne, Switzerland. He has Claire J . Horwell holds a Research Councils UK extensive teaching and research experience at Fellowship at Durham University, in the various institutions, including the University of Department of Earth Sciences and the Institute of Strasbourg, ETH Zürich, Tohoku University, Hazard Risk and Resilience. Her research uses min­ Hiroshima University, the U.S. Geological Survey eralogical and geochemical techniques to under­ (Denver), Riiksmuseet Stockholm, and Queen’s stand why certain minerals pose a respiratory University at Kingston. He is Research Director health hazard. In particular, her work focuses on (CNRS) at the University of Strasbourg. His main research interests are the variability of crystalline silica toxicity in nat­ in the areas of environmental and applied geochemistry/isotope geo­ ural dusts. Her group is currently working on silica in dome-forming chemistry, particularly the interaction and fractionation processes at volcanoes, silica released during sugarcane combustion, and the hazard the rock–soil–water–plant–atmosphere interface. of quarrying volcanic deposits. She is a founder and director of the International Volcanic Health Hazard Network (www.ivhhn.org) and also leads the multidisciplinary UK Natural Dust & Health Network.

Elements 212 August 2010