BLACKSBURG, Va., Feb. 2, 2005 – Four Virginia Tech professors are part of the new magazine Elements — an international magazine of mineralogy, geochemistry, and petrology.
Robert J. Bodnar, of Blacksburg, University Distinguished Professor of Geosciences in the College of Science at Virginia Tech, served as guest editor of the inaugural issue. Michael F. Hochella Jr., of Blacksburg, professor of geosciences, is one of three principal scientific editors and "will be one of the guiding forces in shaping this magazine and the science it will cover," according to Pierrette Tremblay, managing editor. Nancy L. Ross, of Blacksburg, professor of mineralogy and associate dean of the College of Science, is a member of the magazine's advisory board.
In addition, Tremblay said, "the next issue will pay special recognition to Dr. Paul Ribbe, emeritus professor, for his editorship of the Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry. Ribbe, who retired in 1996 after 30 years as professor of geosciences at Virginia Tech, was editor of 57 volumes of the journal. He was honored with a symposium at the 116th national meeting of the Geological Society of America.
Bodnar earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry from the University of Pittsburgh, a master's degree in geology from the University of Arizona, and a Ph.D. in geochemistry and mineralogy from the Pennsylvania State University. He was appointed a University Distinguished Professor in 1999 and has earned numerous awards, including being named a Fellow of the Mineralogical Society of America and receiving the National Science Foundation's Presidential Young Investigator Award.
Hochella, a Virginia Tech alumnus, went on to earn a Ph.D. from Stanford University, where he was a research professor for nine years. He rejoined Virginia Tech in 1992. Hochella leads a project that was recently awarded $1 million from the National Science Foundation's newest initiative, Nanoscale Science and Engineering. His awards include the Humboldt Research Award and Fellowship and the Dana Medal.
A native of Blacksburg, Ross joined the Virginia Tech Department of Geological Sciences in 2000 as professor of mineralogy after 12 years at University College London. She was named associate dean for research, graduate studies, and outreach for the College of Science in 2004. She obtained her bachelor's degree from Virginia Tech, a master's degree from the University of British Columbia, and a Ph.D. from Arizona State University. Ross is a fellow of the Mineralogical Society of America.
Elements was unveiled at the recent Geological Society of America meeting in Denver, Col., according to Tremblay. Bodnar "has assembled a collection of five invited peer-reviewed papers covering ore-forming fluids; volatiles in magmatic-volcanic systems; water in the mantle; fluids, faulting and flow; and extraterrestrial water," Tremblay said. Bodnar also wrote the introduction.
Seven organizations serve as co-publishers of Elements: the European Association for Geochemistry, the International Association of Geochemistry and Cosmochemistry, the Mineralogical Society of America, the Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland, the Mineralogical Association of Canada, the Geochemical Society, and the Clay Minerals Society. Members of the societies, plus 1,300 libraries around the globe, will receive the magazine. Subscriptions currently number approximately 9,000.
The College of Science at Virginia Tech gives students a comprehensive foundation in the scientific method. Outstanding faculty members teach courses and conduct research in biology, chemistry, economics, geosciences, mathematics, physics, psychology, and statistics. The college is dedicated to fostering a research intensive environment and offers programs in nano-scale and biological sciences, information theory and science, and supports research centers—in areas such as biomedical and public health sciences, and critical technology and applied science—that encompass other colleges at the university. The College of Science also houses programs in pre-medicine and scientific law.
Founded in 1872 as a land-grant college, Virginia Tech has grown to become among the largest universities in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Today, Virginia Tech's eight colleges are dedicated to putting knowledge to work through teaching, research, and outreach activities and to fulfilling its vision to be among the top research universities in the nation. At its 2,600-acre main campus located in Blacksburg and other campus centers in Northern Virginia, Southwest Virginia, Hampton Roads, Richmond, and Roanoke, Virginia Tech enrolls more than 28,000 full- and part-time undergraduate and graduate students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries in 180 academic degree programs.