GEOC Newsletter: Spring 2026
LETTER FROM THE CHAIR
Dear GEOC Division Members,
On behalf of the Division’s Executive Committee, I would like to thank all of you who attended the past two ACS meetings in Washington DC and Atlanta, and particularly those who convened symposia at these meetings. Your work in shaping the conference program, highlighting emerging topics, and encouraging early-career scientists is critical to our community.
I also would like to extend thanks to our 2024 Division Chair Lynn Katz, as she steps off the Executive Committee following her second four-year term of service to the Division, and to 2025 Division Chair Sang Soo Lee, as he transitions to the role of Past Chair. Among other achievements, Lynn and Sang Soo steered the Division through a significant post-Covid rebound in membership, created a recurrent symposium on ‘Broadening Participation in Geochemistry’, and increased the visibility of the Division at ACS activities such as the Sci-Mix ‘Division Row’.
A few notable items, listed below, have been the focus of recent Executive Committee discussions. First, we have a new ‘Geochemistry Graphical Competition Award’ for students and early-career scientists. As described in this newsletter, winners will receive an award certificate, a $100 prize, and will be highlighted in GEOC communications. The deadline for entry is May 10, 2026.
Second, we will have elections this year for two GEOC officers positions: Secretary and Membership Coordinator. If you are interested in serving the Division, please consider running for the 2026 election.
Third, the Executive Committee would be interested in recruiting companies or donors to sponsor GEOC awards. If you have any suggestions, please contact the Executive Committee.
Finally, the National ACS organization has plans to significantly reduce the number of in-person oral presentations at its annual meetings. Since the total amount of speaking time available to each division is set by ACS, a likely outcome is that the Division might not be able to continue to offer a speaking slot at the annual meeting to almost everyone who requests one. To alleviate this issue, the Executive Committee is considering ways to ‘elevate’ the GEOC poster session, including by co-locating posters and talks and by creating poster awards.
Best wishes,
Ian C. Bourg
2026 GEOC Division Chair
ACS SPRING 2026 SUMMARY
The GEOC Division hosted an exciting program at the Spring 2026 ACS meeting in Atlanta, March 22–26, 2026. The program included 13 symposia with 181 in-person oral presentations, 47 in-person posters, and 9 virtual presentations. Symposium topics included wildfires, energy resources, cementitious materials, natural organic matter, X-rays and neutrons, critical minerals, undergraduate research, and mineral-water interfaces. The program also included symposia in honor of Jim Kubicki and Dave Cole.
Division activities included a social event at No Mas Cantina attended by about 70 people, with good food and lively discussions. The Division was strongly represented at the GEOC booth at the ACS Connect Happy Hour and at the Sci-Mix Division Row, where many ACS members (particularly students) filled out the GEOC membership sign-up sheet.
The Division celebrated two winners of our Student Travel Award and one winner of the Early-Career Travel Award. Thanks to all who submitted an extended abstract! We had many more strong contributions than we could support. For the Student Travel Award, the winners are Xueyi Liu (Washington U) and Mallory Thomas (Columbia U). For the Early-Career Travel Award, the winner is Shuhong Song (Pacific Northwest National Lab). Award winners each received a $200 prize and a waiver of their conference registration fee.
Warm thanks to everyone who attended, and hoping to see you at the next meeting in Chicago!
Best wishes,
Ian C. Bourg & Vitalii Starchenko
2025 & 2026 GEOC Program Chairs
Left to right:
Spring 2026 travel award winners: Shuhong Song, Xueyi Liu, and Mallory Thomas.
CALL FOR TRAVEL AWARD APPLICATIONS
The Division invites application for the Student Travel Award and Early Career Scientist Travel Award for the ACS Fall 2026 meeting in Chicago, IL, from August 23–27, 2026. Applications should be sent by May 4, 2026 to the Program Chair of the meeting, Vitalii Starchenko, by email (starchenkov@ornl.gov).
Student Travel Award
Number of awards: Up to 4 awards based on the quality of the applications.
Award: (1) The Geochemistry Division will pay for the awardees’ registration for the ACS National Meeting plus a $200 stipend. (2) Awardees will be given an extended time allocation (typically 25-30 minutes) for their oral presentations.
Eligibility: (1) The applicant must be an undergraduate or graduate student. (2) The applicant must have already submitted a regular abstract to MAPS for the meeting (see Application Procedure for details). (3) The applicant must be the presenting author. (4) Only one application per presenting author will be considered. (5) The awardee must be a member of ACS Geochemistry Division at the time of the conference.
Early Career Scientist Travel Award
Number of awards: Up to 2 awards based on the quality of the applications.
Award: (1) The Geochemistry Division will pay for the awardees’ registration for the ACS National Meeting plus a $200 stipend. (2) Awardees will be given an extended time allocation (typically 25-30 minutes) for the oral presentation.
Eligibility: (1) The applicant must have received their PhD degree within 7 years of the submission deadline (May 4, 2026). If there are extenuating circumstances (such as time spent raising children), please contact: starchenkov@ornl.gov. (2) The applicant must have already submitted a regular abstract to MAPS for the meeting (see Application Procedure for details). (3) The applicant must be the presenting author. (4) Only one application per presenting author will be considered. (5) The awardee must be a member of ACS Geochemistry Division at the time of the conference.
Application Procedures
Submit your extended abstract to the GEOC Program Chair, Vitalii Starchenko, at starchenkov@ornl.gov, before the application deadline (May 4, 2026).
Extended abstracts should not exceed one page (use at least 11-pt font, single-line spacing, and 1-inch margins) and may contain tables and figures (counted toward the page limit). Make sure to (1) include your name, affiliation, abstract title, and abstract number, and (2) indicate whether you are an undergraduate/graduate student (for the Student Travel Award) or your PhD degree date/year (for the Early Career Scientist Travel Award).
Evaluation
Abstracts will be judged based on the impact on the field of geochemistry, technical approach, quality and clarity of writing, relevance of the abstract to the symposia and national meeting themes, and balance among different symposia.
Award winners will be announced by the end of May 2026.
Questions?
General information about the conference: https://www.acs.org/events/fall.html
Questions about the awards should be directed to starchenkov@ornl.gov
CALL FOR NOMINATIONS FOR THE 2027 ACS GEOCHEMISTRY MEDAL AWARD
DUE: May 30, 2026
The Geochemistry Division of the American Chemical Society (ACS) invites nominations for the 14th awarding of the Geochemistry Medal. Awarded biennially, the Geochemistry Division Medal recognizes an individual for outstanding accomplishments in any field of geochemistry.
Nomination materials must be submitted by 5:00 pm ET on May 30, 2026 to the Chair of the Geochemistry Medal Committee: Dr. Yuanzhi Tang; yuanzhi.tang@eas.gatech.edu
Nomination Package Requirements
A nomination letter (approximately 2–5 pages) describing the nominee’s qualifications and contributions
The nominee’s current CV, including an up-to-date publication list
Two supporting letters from individuals other than the nominator
Any additional supporting materials at the discretion of the nominator
Nominators should confirm prior to submission that the nominee is willing to be considered for the award.
Evaluation Criteria
Nomination packages should clearly address the following criteria:
Impact on sub-discipline(s), field(s), and society, including seminal contributions, highly cited work, or the establishment of new research directions
Knowledge production, such as publications, citation metrics, books, patents, or inventions
Interdisciplinarity and reach, including influence across disciplines or fields
Mentoring, including the career trajectories, productivity, and placement of students and postdoctoral scholars
Leadership and service, including contributions to professional societies and institutional leadership (e.g., departments, universities, national laboratories)
As you consider potential nominees, we strongly encourage attention to broad representation, including gender diversity, participation of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) scholars, and recognition of science beyond R1 research universities (such as primarily undergraduate institutions, national laboratories, and industry). Research shows that scientists in under-represented groups are more likely to be overlooked for awards and may be less likely to self-identify as ready for nomination for prestigious honors.
Award Details
The Geochemistry Medal includes:
A bronze medallion
A $2,000 honorarium
An allowance for travel and registration to attend the ACS meeting at which the award is presented
The 2027 Geochemistry Medal will be conferred at the Spring 2027 ACS National Meeting & Exposition, to be held March 21–25, 2027, in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Nominees are considered for two award cycles. Unsuccessful nominations from the 2027 cycle will automatically be reconsidered in the subsequent cycle, and nominators will be invited to submit updated or additional material if desired.
Previous GEOC medal winners include:
Frank J. Millero (2001)
John M. Hayes (2003)
Patrick G. Hatcher (2005)
Robert C. Aller (2007)
Fred T. MacKenzie (2009)
John A. Tossell (2011)
George W. Luther III (2013)
Donald Sparks (2015)
Susan L. Brantley (2017)
Everett L. Shock (2019)
Michael Hochella (2021)
Vicki Grassian (2023)
Janet Hering (2025)
Thank you for your efforts in recognizing and celebrating our colleagues’ outstanding contributions to the field of geochemistry.
Yuanzhi Tang
Chair, Geochemistry Medal Committee
American Chemical Society Geochemistry Division
NEW GEOC EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBER
We are excited to have a new GEOC executive committee member, Dan Tsang. Welcome on board!
Dan Tsang, Program Chair Elect, 2026
Prof. Dan Tsang is the Executive Director of School of Engineering, Director of Research Center on Decarbonization Technology, and Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. He holds fellowships at the Institution of Civil Engineers (FICE), Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (FIMMM), Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC), and Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (FHKIE). Dan also serves as the founding Editor-in-Chief of npj Materials Sustainability (Nature Portfolio), Chairman of the Hong Kong Waste Management Association (2023–2025), and Waste Management Subcommittee Chair (2023&2024) of the Advisory Council on the Environment of the Hong Kong Government.