Face of the LIB: Stefan Peters

What does nature mean to you?

I enjoy researching my own environment and understanding the relationship between humans and the cosmos. That's why I work in the field of meteorites, cosmochemistry and the evolution of the early Earth.

Where do you specialise in your research?

I am an isotope chemist, I look at the composition of rocks in order to better understand their formation and the conditions and processes from which these rocks were formed. These can be processes in the early solar system and planet formation or an interaction between the solid Earth, the atmosphere and the oceans. These interactions are stored in the stones. You can tease them out by analysing isotopes. I find it exciting to be the first to measure things and find connections that have not yet been understood in this way - in other words, to identify structures in nature that have always existed but have not yet been understood in this way.

What is it like to run a museum?

I am very happy to have followed in Jochen Schlüter's footsteps, he built everything up with a lot of love. It's very nice to work with it. At the same time, it takes a lot of time to get to know everything. New questions and tasks come my way every day. That's what takes up most of my time, which is why I hardly get to do any research or collection work at the moment. But even here I have many tasks, such as answering enquiries about research material. Children often come to me who have found stones on holiday and want to know what they are. That really touches me and reminds me of my own childhood.

What led you to mineralogy and geology?

I think it was a natural curiosity that I already had as a boy. I collected stones with enthusiasm. I often went on holiday to the Alps with my parents. At some point, my father took me to a small club where they collected stones. I was about eleven and it was my first time in a quarry. I found it very impressive. That's how I ended up studying geology. I actually moved from geology to geochemistry and then moved further and further away from mineralogy. I worked more and more chemically and physically, analysed gases and liquids and worked more and more abstractly. Coming back to mineralogy now is very nice - it's like coming full circle for me. At the same time, I like working more in the field of physics and chemistry at the LIB and building a bridge between mineralogy and biology via the laws of nature.

Which mineral appeals to you most emotionally?

That changes. At the moment it's magnetite, an iron oxide from an iron ore deposit. It's lying on my desk. Some of these iron ore deposits are two billion years old. By measuring isotopes, I have established that oxygen in this mineral was once part of the atmosphere and must have been there for around two billion years - something we find very difficult to imagine. It is very rare for oxygen from the atmosphere to be found in rock. It took a while to understand how this happened. I find this story very exciting. And that's why I'm particularly fond of magnetite at the moment.

Where do you want to take the museum?

I would like to bring the LIB themes in the museum a little further forward and also make a connection to the new museum - in the form of a trial exhibition. I want to show the link between living and non-living nature more clearly.

What else would you have become?

At the beginning of my geology studies, I also considered dropping out. I had realised that I had other interests that were not served by my studies. At the time, I was also very interested in humanities subjects, such as philosophy and the Dutch language. I then tried to compensate for the lack of input by writing geoscientific poems, which we then published in the student council magazine. I had also considered studying biology and was also interested in astronomy and astrophysics. I think I'm on the right track as a researcher.

Where do you see your role within the LIB?

I can bridge the gap between living and non-living nature and I am relatively alone in this within the LIB. I am interested in the connection between the geosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere in today's world and also in the geological past. I'm used to thinking on a very large physical and temporal scale, which I think is sometimes helpful when you look at the processes in nature.

Which aspect of your daily work is your highlight?

At the moment it's the content, the scientific work. In terms of collecting, I'm happy when I discover beautiful pieces. And in museum work, I particularly like it when we can inspire children.

What advice do you have for young mineralogists starting their careers?

I would advise students who want to pursue a scientific career: Try to cope with rejection because there is an incredible amount of rejection in a scientific career. Rejections of papers and proposals and so on. Be critical of your own work and also of other scientists. An important area in mineralogy at the moment is working with critical minerals. This research is important in the transition to a CO2-neutral economy - this is a major field of work that is important for humanity.

What do you want people to associate with the LIB in ten years' time?

Of course, the things that are already coming out of the LIB at the moment. For my part, I would like to bring the geosciences to the fore and make them more visible. We have an incredibly beautiful mineralogical collection that people should be able to see. We are working on topics that are very important for the evolution of life. I would like to make that more visible.

Dr Stefan Peters: After completing his Master's degree in Earth Sciences at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and his accompanying work at EASA, the Dutch-born scientist moved to Bonn to do his doctorate on meteorites at the University of Cologne. He then spent almost seven years at the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen as a temporary academic advisor and completed a Humboldt Fellowship in St Diego. Before Dr Stefan Peters started at the LIB in May 2022 as Head of Mineralogy and the Museum of Nature - Mineralogy, he worked for a year in Reykjavik, Iceland, at the University of Iceland in the field of geochemistry.