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The Geochemical Society and The European Association of Geochemistry awards St Hugh’s Fellow

Congratulations to Professorial Fellow in Geochemistry, Chris Ballentine who has been honoured with the title of Geochemistry Fellow by The Geochemical Society and the European Association of Geochemistry. Professor Ballentine was recognised by the societies ‘for his pivotal work to raise noble gas geochemistry to a new level of sophistication. He is also recognised for his exemplary service to the societies as president of EAG and chair of two Goldschmidt Conferences.’

The award was established in 1996 to honour outstanding scientists who have, over some years, made a major contribution to the field.

Professor Ballentine said, ‘It’s a great honour for my work to be put forward and recognised by my colleagues, and to join such an illustrious band of Fellows.’

Professor Chris Ballentine uses the unique properties of the noble gases (helium, neon, argon, krypton and xenon) to understand the role that fluids and gases play in geological systems such as understanding the origin of the Earth’s atmosphere and the chemical evolution and structure of the Earth’s mantle. Recent work has developed quantitative techniques to show how carbon dioxide behaves in the subsurface, essential for the safe burial of anthropogenic CO2. This approach extends to understanding the crustal carbon cycle and how critical carbon-rich fluids play a role in supporting life in the subsurface on geological timescales.