Catherine Jeandel

EAG Goldschmidt Officer

As an oceanographer and marine geochemist, Catherine’s main scientific researches are focused on quantifying the fluxes and processes that govern the chemical state of the ocean. Since 1987 she has been among the pioneers in developing trace element and isotope analysis methods for seawater and marine particles. These analytical advances have led to important advances in understanding 1) Rare Earth Element concentrations and neodymium isotopes that trace water mass circulation and mixing, dissolved-particulate processes, continent-ocean exchange 2) barium concentrations and their use as a tracer of water masses and productivity 3) Thorium and protactinium isotopes as tracers of deep water ventilation, scavenging and particulate fluxes. Because one single tracer is not sufficient enough to constrain complex natural systems, she advocates multi-tracer and multi-disciplinary approaches to resolve natural processes, strategy of the international GEOTRACES program which she is pioneer of.

Author or co-author of more than 130 peer reviewed papers, Catherine wrote with M. Roy Barman a book dedicated to marine geochemistry (Oxford Univ. Press) and co-edited 3 books “Le Climat à découvert”, “L’énergie à Découvert” and “L’eau à Découvert” (CNRS eds.). As President of the Academic Council of the Federal University of Toulouse (UFT), she is deeply involved in stimulating interdisciplinary researches, since they are keys to deal with the complexity of the questions raised by our societies in transition.

As Goldschmidt Officer, Catherine will be co-chairing the Goldschmidt2023 Organizing and Science Committees.