Citation by J. Pašava (SGA Executive Secretary):
Mr. State Secretary, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
it is a very great honor to present David Dolejš, an associate professor at the Charles University in Prague, as the recipient of the SGA Barrick Young Scientist award in 2013. David was born in the Czech Republic and graduated with an M.Sc. degree summa cum laude in petrology from Charles University. Links between magmatic and hydrothermal processes attracted David’s interests since his early university days, and they continue to provide a solid foundation for his ability to see ore-forming processes, petrogenesis and geodynamic interpretations in one interrelated context. David has always been strongly interested in unraveling global hydrothermal processes as opposed to case studies, and this led him to add laboratory experiments and numerical models of remarkable quality and insight to his research projects.
For his Ph.D. at McGill University in Canada, he restarted the experimental laboratory and developed an extensive research program devoted to magmatic-hydrothermal transition in highly evolved granitic systems. He addressed mineral stabilities and melt-fluid partitioning in fluorine-bearing systems, a ligand, whose relevance for mass transport is still not completely appreciated. His doctoral thesis at McGill, crowned with a dean’s honour list, led to six papers with a total impact factor of 21.5. He provided definite resolutions for the dichotomy of volatile composition and mineralization in magmatic arcs versus continental collision, and critically assessed the role of exsolution of fluoride liquids or brines from granitic melts that lead to the formation of deposits of various critical metals, such as Zr, Nb, Ta, or rare earth elements.
Subsequently, David accepted postdoctoral position at the University of Bayreuth in Germany, with the support from the Elite Network of Bavaria, and developed strong and successful international collaboration to address some of the long standing deficiencies in our understanding of feedback relations between alteration mineralogy, the chemistry of aqueous fluids, reaction mechanisms, and environmental factors such as oxygen or sulfur fugacities. Together with Thomas Wagner, they modelled alteration reactions in shallow-level granites, with implications for redox variations and identified solute ratios, now analytically accessible, which may provide potential geothermometers for hydrothermal fluids. With Andreas Audétat and Jacob Lowenstern, they documented multiple occurrences of primary magmatic molybdenite worldwide and calibrated the potential of molybdenum as a sulfobarometer at the magmatic-hydrothermal transition. More recently, David began to investigate the nature of fluidmediated element transport in the deeper lithosphere. He questioned the conventional wisdom of zirconium immobility and with his graduate student Diego Bernini published in- situ diamond-anvil cell measurements, first of its kind in the world. Finally, David developed a new solubility model for representative minerals in aqueous fluids and changed our views on the significance of retrograde solubility in hydrothermal or geothermal systems. These few examples indicate the breadth and impact of his research published in numerous papers appearing in Geofluids, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, Journal of Petrology, Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry and other major international journals.
In 2008, David has accepted position of assistant, now associate professor at the Charles University in Prague and maintained a strong sense for outreach and student education. For the last five years, he has been acting as the faculty advisor to the SGA student chapter in Prague and a relentless excursion guide in central Europe and Scandinavia. Under his leadership, the chapter has rapidly grown from 8 to 42 student members, and it became a very active and one of the largest groups in Europe. David’s enthusiasm and personal devotion to promotion of economic geology among young generation of students is clearly a very important and successful aspect of his academic activities. The Faculty of Science of his alma mater has already recognized him as a double recipient of the excellent teacher award.
David’s scientific productivity has been extraordinary, and he earned the Walter Hitschfeld award in Montréal 2001 and the Albert Maucher award in Munich 2007. To date, he has published more than 35 papers in major international journals and the number of his citations is on a sharp increase, exceeding 390 worldwide. This clearly reflects his sense for scientific pursuit, the relevant scope of his approaches, and the application of his research results to an interdisciplinary area between economic geology, geochemistry and mineralogy.
I would like to present David Dolejš to you as the 2013 recipient of the SGA Barrick young scientist award in recognition of his scientific enthusiasm, creativity and leadership.
Letter of acceptance by D. Dolejš:
President Weihed, members of the society, ladies and gentlemen,
I am thoroughly delighted and exceedingly grateful to the SGA and the Barrick Co. for this award. Thank you, Jan, for nomitating me for this prestigious recognition for young scientists and for your kind words. Let me use this opportunity and share with you what were the major influences that bring me to the podium today.
My interests in geology date back to time spent with my parents, Jan and Jana, in the countryside where the nearest rock outcrop, albeit temporary, was in our garden. I have enrolled at the Charles University in Prague and because that outcrop was made of weakly metamorphosed sediments, I was convinced to become a sedimentologist. How wrong …
During my university studies in Prague, contrary to warnings of my classmates, I attended the course on thermodynamics by Milan Rieder. Although the subject was virtually impossible to grasp by a geologist, I somehow felt that nature operates by simple physico- chemical principles and understanding rather than ignoring them may offer the clue to many processes. One year later, Miroslav Štemprok and his phase equilibria class convinced me that Rieder had a point. Štemprok’s gentle, encouraging and persistent personality kept me
coming back not only to use his extensive library but mainly for long and intriguing discussions. His far sight and worldwide experience with oreforming hydrothermal processes presented a steady enquiry for me, but I felt that he wants to urge me that I find the solutions on my own. Finally, when I complained to Petr Jakeš that he did not sufficiently cover hydrothermal phenomena in his graduate geochemistry class, he, instead, wrote a supportive reference letter for me to pursue a Ph.D. in North America. So I went …
I arrived to McGill in Canada and the department was well populated with hard-rock academic staff providing unusually rich and diverse expertise in geochemistry, petrology and ore deposits. My Ph.D. supervisor, Don Baker, has generously allowed me to choose and put his funds behind my own thesis topic, which meant a hard and slow start for a naive youngster. However, this discovery path of my own research attitude and capabilities was truly rewarding. Being the only student working with Don for several years, I naturally gravitated to the most populated room across the corridor, happened to be a fluid inclusion lab of economic geologist, „Willy“ Williams-Jones. The SEG student chapter at McGill was in a full swing, we extensively travelled to ore deposits across Eastern Canada, and Willy’s students and postdocs kept reminding me how fluids are important scientifically, economically, and on Friday nights. Still in Montreal, I started my collaboration with Thomas Wagner, postdoc at that time, and our work on thermodynamic models of hydrothermal alteration continued when we both moved to German universities. The more we enjoyed the intricacies of physicochemical properties of silicate, oxide and sulfide minerals and aqueous species,the less time was left for writing additional joint papers, but I am happy that we both still continue to build on these results.
In 2004, I moved to the University of Bayreuth as a postdoc and I wish to appreciate the generosity of Hans Keppler, for offering me a long-term position. The attitude at the Bayerisches Geoinstitut was unlike at any other university, but was that of a research centre with a high flux of excellent young researchers, unparalleled infrastructure and technical support. I started there just two months ahead of arrival of Andreas Audétat, who then built the laser ablation ICP MS lab, and we revived our collaboration from North American times, and started on several studies related to the occurrence, stability and implications of molybdenum mineralization. Andreas’s meticulous analytical skills and my desire to amplify the results and applicability into a broader picture led to recognition of magmatic molybdenite in a number of igneous suites worldwide and to subsequent calibration of a new oxy- and sulfobarometer for ore deposit studies. Another important moment in Bayreuth was a sabbatical of Craig Manning, visiting us from UCLA, when we started to carefully evaluate solubilities of various minerals in hydrothermal fluids, with prospective applications to deeper lithosphere and global cycles. Our daily interactions in the summer of 2009 provided much impetus for my subsequent work on fluid flow and estimation of fluid fluxes from mineral and alteration record.
My so far last move to Charles University in 2008 meant adding teaching and science outreach into my daily schedule. Upon my arrival in Prague, I unavoidably became an power- point slide creator but I am happy to note that the more slides I had, the larger number of curious and inspiring students I was able to meet. Supervising eight students working with me today, and with the help of local and international laboratory facilities, we have embarked on several projects related to pulsed fluid flow, origin of greisen and skarn deposits, and the mechanisms of mineral reactions on the microscale. It is also very gratifying to see that a number of my students found geology interesting and important, and they pursue their studies or jobs abroad.
In closing I can say that the award is not the sole accomplishment of myself but I would like to acknowledge the many collaborators and individuals who have given me the opportunity to achieve this recognition. I would not be standing here without continuing support of our family and my girlfriend, and their steady forbearance and sacrifice for my scientific pursuits.
We would not be meeting here today if we would not share sense that our profession needs communication, strategy and visibility in the modern society. Likewise, this award would not exist without the farsight and commitment of those who dedicate their time, efforts and resources to this professional society. I am, therefore, very grateful to the SGA leadership and to Barrick for bestowing me with this award and hope that my future work will satisfy the high standards set forth by my predecessors. Thank you for listening.