Women in Geoscience: An interview with Ellen Kooijman

I work as a Senior Researcher in isotope geology and I am head of the Vegacenter, a national laboratory for micro-analysis in geosciences at the Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm. I was recruited 5 years ago to build the laboratory, which houses a laser ablation system and two mass spectrometers. We serve the Swedish (and neighboring countries’) science community by offering chemical and isotopic analysis of solid samples—e.g. minerals, rocks, teeth, bones, glasses— and water samples. My own research is in the fields of geochemistry, metamorphic petrology and tectonics. I use trace elements and isotopes in accessory minerals, such as zircon and rutile, to understand continental crust formation and the tectonics of orogenic belts.