Mineralogy has traditionally been considered to be that area of the Earth Sciences directly related to the study of the chemistry, structure and occurrence of minerals. Nowadays however, mineralogists have found that their expertise is in great demand in a number of areas including material science and the development of new technologically useful products(e.g. new zeolitic-like compounds), mineral exploration (e.g.location and characterization of VMS and Au ore deposits) as well as in a global sense towards understanding the evolution of our planet.
My research is directed at using mineralogy as a tool in the geosciences. Although I still conduct investigations/characterizations of new mineral species, I am also interested in applying mineralogy and crystal chemistry as a means of understanding the evolution of alkaline rocks, exploring for Au and rare metals (e.g. Ta, Nb) and understanding how the atomic structures of minerals relate to their observed physical and optical properties.
