Sigurður Reynir formally accepted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Sigurður Reynir Gíslason, geochemist and research professor at the University of Iceland's Institute of Earth Sciences has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences for his work in the field of earth sciences.  Sigurður Reynir accepted his American Academy of Arts and Sciences, AAA&S membership, at a festive ceremony in the Academy’s hometown, Cambridge Massachusetts.  

During his scientific career, Sigurður Reynir has focused on three main research areas. His main scientific contributions are; firstly, the polluting effects of volcanic eruptions, which is vital for the environment and biosphere, secondly, measuring the chemical and physical erosion rates of basaltic terrains and their role in the global carbon cycle. He has assessed the environmental pressure from volcanic eruptions in this research area. Thirdly, he was one of the founders and administrators of the CarbFix project and served as chair of its science board from its foundation in 2006 until 2020. The project is developing an industrial process to capture carbon dioxide from power plant emissions directly from the atmosphere and trap it in stone, and the results have attracted worldwide attention. 

Carbon capture is Sigurður’s catchphrase for the great achievements of the CarbFix project and from 2020 of the CarbFix company led by post-docs in the project.

“This could be a factor in solving the climate problem that we are currently facing. To be carbon neutral by 2050, we need to reduce carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere, but that alone is not enough. We also need to capture carbon dioxide from coal and gas power plants, industries such as aluminium smelters and silicon factories, and store it underground; binding it in such a way that it is removed from the carbon cycle.  At least for hundreds, if not millions of years," says Sigurður Reynir. 

A world-renowned and respected academy

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAA&S) is both an honorary society that recognises and celebrates the excellence of its members and an independent research centre convening leaders from across disciplines, professions, and perspectives to address significant challenges. 

The academy was founded in 1780, and among those who have been elected to it are George Washington, Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein, Martin Luther King, Jr., Georgia O’Keeffe, and Wisława Szymborska. Sigurður Helgason, mathematician and professor at MIT in the United States, was also a member of AAA&S, but he passed away last December.

This is, however, not the only recognition Sigurður Reynir has received recently. Last spring, he was elected as an International Member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, NAS.  The formal induction into the NAS will take place in Washington DC next spring.  In addition to Sigurður Reynir, Kári Stefánsson, CEO of deCODE Genetics, is also a member of NAS.

Destined for geology 

There was never any question for Sigurður Reynir about becoming anything other than a geologist. He is from Vestur-Skaftafellssýsla, and his family farm, Þykkvabæjarklaustur, lies in the path of the Katla flood. His paternal grandfather fled on horseback from the Katla flood in 1918; his maternal grandfather, from Reyn in Mýrdalur, participated in the first exploratory expedition to Katla fissure in the spring after the eruption, and his father Gísli, who was a milk truck driver in Vík at the time, drove through the ash cloud from the Hekla eruption in 1947.  

“Let's just say that my interest in geology is embedded in my DNA,” Sigurður Reynir says with a laugh.

In this news report, you can watch a video interview (in Icelandic) with this respected scientist, who has not only received the above-mentioned recognitions but has also been awarded various prizes for his work. He has, for example, been elected a Fellow of international organizations in geochemistry, as well as American and European societies in the same field.   

Sigurður Reynir also received the Clair C. Patterson Award from the Geochemical Society of the United States in 2018, one of the most prestigious honours in geochemistry. Sigurður received the award for his research on sequestering carbon dioxide in basalt on the one hand, and on the effects of volcanic eruptions on the environment on the other.

Sigurður Reynir also received the Knight's Cross of the Order of the Falcon for his contributions to Icelandic earth sciences and carbon capture in 2020. 

Sigurður Reynir completed a BS degree in geology from the University of Iceland in 1980, and received his PhD in geochemistry from the Johns Hopkins University in1985. Since then he has worked as an academic, scientists and later research professor at the University’s Institute of Earth Sciences.