The Goldschmidt Conferences® were started in 1988 by the international Geochemical Society (GS) to provide a forum for its members to discuss their latest research. The conference is named in honour of Victor M. Goldschmidt (1888 – 1947), whose classification of the behaviour of the elements in the Earth and meteorites laid the basis of modern geochemistry. Each year, the conference brings together thousands of scientists from throughout the world to talk about subjects including the origin of the Earth and planets, the chemical processes that have shaped Earth’s evolution over time, the interconnections between life and the physical world, the search for new resources, and the environmental challenges facing today’s world.
In its longstanding involvement with the Goldschmidt Conference, the GS was joined early on by the European Association of Geochemistry (EAG). Since that time, responsibility for organisation and hosting of the conference has alternated between the two societies, with the EAG overseeing meetings held in odd-numbered years, and the GS those in even-numbered years. The conference has also benefitted greatly from the involvement of other societies, notably the Geochemical Society of Japan and the Mineralogical Society of America. Over the years, the Goldschmidt conference has travelled widely, across North America, Japan, Europe and Australia, and has benefitted from the involvement of all of its associated societies from throughout the world. However the real key to the continuing success of the Goldschmidt conference is the energy and enthusiasm of the scientists responsible for its organisation, to whom we are immensely grateful.