March 12, 2024
The Geochemical Society and the Meteoritical Society are pleased to announce the appointment of Prof. Hailiang Dong of the China University of Geosciences Beijing as the next Executive Editor of Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. He will succeed outgoing EE Jeff Catalano, who has overseen a record number of manuscript submissions and the publication of more than 2,000 papers since 2019. Prof. Dong's term will officially begin on 1 January 2025.
"I am grateful to our authors and reviewers for persevering with us through the COVID-19 pandemic and the barriers that they faced to accessing our journal," said Catalano. Under Catalano's tenure, GCA has witnessed a substantial increase in the gender and geographic diversity of the GCA editorial board, adjusting its membership to better reflect our community. "The greatest strength of GCA is its excellent Associate Editors, who are true leaders in our field," said Catalano. "They provide the critical foundation for ensuring GCA's continued success as the premier journal for fundamental research in geochemistry and cosmochemistry under my esteemed successor, Hailiang Dong."
Prof. Dong brings a wealth of experience relevant to the journal. In addition to being an Associate Editor for GCA since 2016, he has served as Co Editor-in-Chief of Chemical Geology since 2017 as well as for the new journal, Geo-Bio Interfaces, since 2023. He also served as a program manager with the U.S. National Science Foundation from 2014 to 2016.
Prof. Dong completed his B.S. at the China University of Geosciences Wuhan, his M.S. at the China University of Geosciences Beijing, and his Ph.D. at the University of Michigan, where he studied Ar-Ar dating of clay minerals. He then transitioned into a distinguished research career focused on microbe-mineral reactions during a postdoc at Princeton University followed by professorships at Miami University and China University of Geosciences Beijing. His area of expertise is in microbial, environmental, and isotopic geochemistry, including 40Ar/39Ar dating of clay diagenesis; microbially catalyzed mineral reactions; biogeochemical cycling of elements; remediation strategies of contaminants; and medical applications of clay minerals. He is a Fellow of the Geochemical Society and the European Society of Geochemistry and the Geological Society of America.