Fang-Zhen Teng of the Department of Earth and Space Sciences has been elected as a 2024 Geochemical Fellow of the Geochemical Society and the European Association of Geochemistry. This international award, established in 1996, is bestowed upon outstanding scientists who have made a major contribution to the field of geochemistry. Nearly 380 geochemists worldwide have been honored with this esteemed recognition. The award will be presented at the society’s Goldschmidt Conference held in Chicago this summer.
Teng was named a Fellow in recognition of his exceptionally strong record of high-impact research in the field of isotope geochemistry. The term isotope refers to two or more forms of the same element that have the same chemistry but a different mass. Many laboratories around the world make measurements of the isotopes of elements such as carbon and oxygen, yet Teng is particularly noted for his work using isotopes of lithium, magnesium, iron and potassium, sometimes referred to as “non-traditional” isotopes. They are non-traditional because they are more difficult to measure and are less commonly used. His work over the past 20 years has advanced scientific knowledge of both how to obtain accurate and precise measurement of these isotopes, and how to apply them to the study of the composition and evolution of continental crust, crust-mantle interactions and origin and evolution of the solar system.
