Dear Geochemists, A bumper update this week! Student Rep committee position: We have a student representative position available on the Geochemistry Group committee! Our student representatives are highly valued members of our committee, giving a voice to, and supporting the student geochemistry community. To apply for the position, please submit a brief statement about yourself and why you would like to take on this role (roughly half an A4 page). Please also provide a profile picture. Please email your statement to Marie-Laure Bagard (mlb63(a)cam.ac.uk) by the deadline on Friday 5th December. If you have any questions about the role, then please feel free to contact me or our current student reps, Fawn Holland (fh37(a)st-andrews.ac.uk) and Chen Xu (cx23(a)st-andrews.ac.uk). Find out more about the current committee on our website: https://geochemistry.group/the-committee/<https://eur03.safelinks.protec…amp;reserved=0>. Please forward this info on to anyone who may be interested in applying! PhD list: We have lots of geochemistry-related PhD projects already advertised in our list! https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16OQpC1r2lP199Tu9ZH5ZGyjYHAqHDOdFGRT… If you want to add to this list in the coming weeks, then please fill out the details here: https://forms.gle/X1vMMoYr1QPzdgmC7<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.o… . Projects don’t have to be purely geochemistry, and international PhDs are welcome! Please share this list with any prospective PhD students. Geochemistry Group Awards (deadline 15th January): The Geochemistry Group Postdoctoral Medal is awarded each year to a postdoctoral researcher who has published outstanding research in a peer-reviewed journal within the broad field of geochemistry. Nominations for the GG Medal can be submitted at any time throughout the year and will be reviewed at the January committee meeting. Please visit our website for full details and to apply https://geochemistry.group/awards-and-medals/<https://eur03.safelinks.pr… If you know a postdoc with a great paper, then please encourage them to apply!! Early Career Researcher Prominent Lecture Series. Applications for 2026 are now open, for more information please visit our website: https://geochemistry.group/awards-and-medals/<https://eur03.safelinks.pr…amp;reserved=0>. Meeting Attendance Bursaries (PhDs and ECRs) (deadline 15th January) The Geochemistry Group welcomes applications from researchers registered at UK and Irish universities or research institutions to facilitate the presentation of their geochemistry-related research at a meeting hosted online, within the UK or internationally. The bursary is open to students regardless of funding situation as well postdoctoral researchers without financial support for conference attendance. Full eligibility criteria are listed in the application form which can be downloaded from our website: https://geochemistrygroup.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=130&acti… These are often under subscribed, so you stand a great chance of success! GGRiP 2025: A reminder that the next Geochemistry Group Research in Progress (GGRiP) meeting will take place in Bristol on the 24th-26th of March 2026. For GGRiP 2026 in Bristol, we are running 2 pre-conference workshops that will be free for all conference attendees. The first will be a technical staff workshop covering lab techniques and lab management. The second workshop will be aimed at ECRs, covering the basics of different geochemistry techniques. There will be guest lecturers from across earth science/chemistry/Archaeology. Topics will include: * Introduction to Atoms, Molecules, Ions, Fields and Forces. * Inorganic Mass Spectrometry for Elemental and Isotope Ratio Determination: Quads, TOF, Sectors, (CC)-MC-ICPMS. * GC and LC Mass Spectrometry Techniques for Separating and Quantifying Molecules in Complex Mixtures; compound specific IRMS (C,N,H). The GGRiP website will be live for registration from December 2025! Please also check our website: https://geochemistry.group/research-in-progress-meeting/<https://eur03.s… for the latest info! Mineralogical Society at 150: Past Discoveries and Future Frontiers The Mineralogical Society will celebrate its sesquicentennial during 2026. The focal point of our celebrations will be a three-day meeting at the University of Manchester from 23–25 June 2026. All are welcome, from students and early-career researchers to those who have a lifetime of Society experience under their belts! A key element of the programme will focus on the history of the Society. As part of our celebration, we will publish an article in Mineralogical Magazine describing the history of the Society. In addition, we will celebrate the key people who have contributed to the organization, to our journals and to mineral science over the past 150 years. We would welcome contributions which look at the history of our Society, its leaders and, our disciplines. These may fit in any of the sessions but certainly are welcomed in the ‘Universal Session’. The scientific sessions (up to 3x parallel sessions are planned) will be held in the Schuster Building and the banquet, on the night of 23rd June, will be held at the wonderful Whitworth Hall. More information on the event webpage: https://minsoc-150.org/<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?… MinSoc Skills and Training: Register here for an upcoming event (18th November 2025): Advances and applications in carbonate geochronology<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%… by Nick Roberts, BGS In situ U-Pb dating of carbonates using LA-ICP-MS (Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry) has become a widely applied method in the last decade, in part due to the ubiquity of carbonate minerals in a range of geological settings and lithologies, as well as the large number of laboratories with suitable instrumentation. Here I will review the method, from the basics of LA-ICP-MS through to the requirements specific to carbonates. I will discuss common issues to obtaining and interpreting reliable U-Pb data. Carbonate dating is applicable across a wide breadth of geoscience, and I will demonstrate a range of examples and case studies to explore the extensive possibilities. I will also discuss current issues and future directions. Follow us on Bluesky, LinkedIn & YouTube: * Follow us on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/geochemgroup.bsky.social<https://eur03.safelink…amp;reserved=0>. * We now have the Geochemistry Group set up as a ‘company' on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-geochemistry-group/<https://eur03.s…amp;reserved=0>, so please follow us here! * Also a plug for our parent body, the Mineralogical Society of the UK and Ireland, follow them on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mineralogical-society-of-uk-and-ireland/&l… for lots of relevant updates. * Check out some great resources on our YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@geochemistrygroup4420<https://eur03.safelinks.p…amp;reserved=0>. Here you can watch all our past series of 'ECR Skills for Geochemists' and 'Out of Academia: Into Science’. All the best George Dr George Cooper (ef/fo - he/him) Cymrawd Ymchwil Prifysgol, y Gymdeithas Frenhinol | Royal Society University Research Fellow Ysgol Gwyddorau’r Ddaear a’r Amgylchedd | School of Earth and Environmental Sciences Prifysgol Caerdydd | Cardiff University Ebost | Email: CooperG3(a)cardiff.ac.uk Ystafell | Office: 1.74A