Junjie Dong has received the 2023 AGU Mineral and Rock Physics Graduate Research Award for his outstanding contributions to our understanding of water storage and phase transitions in minerals, and their roles in planetary-scale processes. Junjie received his B.S. from the University of Michigan and his Ph.D. from Harvard University. In his graduate work, he combined high-pressure, high-temperature experiments with several different types of numerical modeling to investigate how mineral properties affect mantle flow and volatile cycling in the deep mantle, both in Earth and in other planets. For example, Junjie used experimental data on water solubilities of minerals at different conditions to build detailed thermodynamic models of mantle water storage capacity for Earth and Mars, then applied the results to understanding deep water cycling over billions of years. He also experimentally studied the postspinel transition in Mg2SiO4 (ringwoodite ® bridgmanite + periclase), responsible for the 660-kilometer seismic discontinuity at the base of Earth’s mantle transition zone. More recently, he has been investigating the phase diagrams of major mantle oxides, metallic iron, and various ices, to better understand the mineralogies of the deep interiors of other planets, in our solar system and for exoplanets. Junjie is also passionate about the history of Earth science and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) issues in our field. He recently began a Caltech Center for Comparative Planetary Evolution (3CPE) postdoctoral fellowship at Caltech.
—Rebecca A. Fischer, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.
Junjie Dong has received the 2023 AGU Study of the Earth’s Deep Interior Section Award for Graduate Research for his outstanding contributions to our understanding of mantle water storage capacity and phase transitions, and their role in planetary-scale processes. Junjie received his B.S. from the University of Michigan and his Ph.D. from Harvard University. In his graduate work, he combined high-pressure, high-temperature experiments with several different types of numerical modeling to investigate processes, such as mantle flow and volatile cycling, in the deep interiors of both Earth and other planets. For example, Junjie used experimental data on water solubilities of minerals at different conditions to build detailed thermodynamic models of mantle water storage capacity for Earth and Mars, then applied the results to understanding deep water cycling over billions of years. He also experimentally studied the postspinel transition in Mg2SiO4 (ringwoodite ® bridgmanite + periclase), responsible for the 660-kilometer seismic discontinuity at the base of Earth’s mantle transition zone. More recently, he has been investigating the phase diagrams of major mantle oxides, metallic iron, and various ices, to better understand the structures and properties of the deep interiors of other planets, in our solar system and for exoplanets. Junjie is also passionate about the history of Earth science and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) issues in our field. He recently began a Caltech Center for Comparative Planetary Evolution (3CPE) postdoctoral fellowship at Caltech.
—Rebecca A. Fischer, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.