The journey to Goldschmidt this year, in Yokohama, Japan, was just 9,469 km or 18+ hours and with a time difference of 8 hours! On arrival I found myself in a vast city that was humid and hot; I could understand perfectly why most locals were carrying a towel around their neck.  Later that day I made my way to the ice breaker of the conference which was hosted at the venue “the Pacifico”, a very tall, white building in shape of a sail that was located in the heart of Yokohama right on the coast. The conference organisers welcomed us with some cool beverages and we got a first taste of some Japanese delicacies in the large poster exhibition hall.

For me the first day of the conference started slowly, never before have I experienced such jet lag!  Luckily my talk was scheduled for the Wednesday, half way through the conference. Fellow Geomicro member Laura presented her work on bioremediation of technetium contaminated groundwater in the morning session. This can be achieved by using proprietary “slow-release” electron donors to maintain a constant supply of an appropriate electron donor, and so generate microbially-reducing conditions in the subsurface.  In the afternoon I presented my latest results on the isosaccharinic acid (ISA) biodegradation under conditions relevant to a geological disposal facility for nuclear waste. The aim of this study was to investigate microbial interactions with nickel that had been mobilised by chelation with ISA, and focused on characterising the biominerals that formed and the identity of the microorganisms involved.

I really enjoyed the excellent talks on uranium remediation by the group from the Helmholtz Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf. Other highlights were presentations by Robert Hazen on whether there was a mineralogical signal for the proposed Anthropocene period (mineral collections being the ultimate Anthropocene anomaly) and by Oliver Warr who described his xenon isotope analysis which identified the oldest fluids ever discovered, from a Canadian mine and a mere 2.3 billion years old!  There were also talks by a few former members of the Geomicro group including James Byrne from the University of Tuebingen in Germany, who presented about his work on the impact of magnetite oxidising and reducing bacteria on chromium remediation, and Adam Williamson, now working in California, who presented his research showing that perchlorate can inhibit the activity of sulfate-reducing bacteria and therefore limit the souring of oil sands.

A personal highlight was the trip I made to Mount Fuji. We started climbing from the Fuji 5^th station at 2,300 m, and our aim was to reach the 8^th station (3,460 m) where we had booked a mountain hut to stay overnight. The next morning we were woken up at 2 am and eagerly started our ascent in the dark, and were rewarded with one of the most beautiful sunrises I have ever seen from the crater summit!

Current and former Geomicro members Laura, Clare and me climbing Mt Fuji

By Gina Kuippers