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EAG sponsored student Marko Bermanec on the Giant's Causeway columnar jointed basalts, N Ireland
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 Author: Invited contribution

EAG Sponsored Student Marko Bermanec joins the European Mineralogy Conference 2024

From left to right: me, Chris Emproto and Bob Hazen on a dinner in an Irish pub on Monday evening.

Coming to Dublin for the European Mineralogical Conference 2024 was a turning point for me. Just a few weeks before, I submitted my Master’s thesis on pegmatite petrogenesis at the University of Bern and had planned my PhD in Graz, Austria. With the pressure of finishing my thesis gone, I felt I could enjoy this event more. I had a tight schedule during the conference—presenting a poster and chairing a session on Tuesday and giving an oral presentation on Friday—so I had to plan my time well.

Right after arriving at my hotel on Sunday, Chris Emproto contacted me to meet up at Trinity College. We first met at the IMA conference in Lyon in 2022 and had actively discussed many topics since. Just a few days before the conference, our first paper together was published online in American Mineralogist. It was amazing to exchange mineral samples and discuss future projects with him throughout the whole week.

I had planned to spend Wednesday in Dublin with Bob Hazen, but he generously invited me to the Giant’s Causeway field trip, which became one of my favourite parts of the conference. Despite the rain, it was a lovely day spent talking with Bob and friends, Barb Dutrow, Darrell Henry, Peter Bačik, and many others. Seeing Ireland’s natural beauty was special and important to me, as I had heard great stories from my late father, who I had hoped to visit Ireland with.

Although I didn’t submit a talk to his session, the most impactful for me was the one honouring Ed Grew’s 80th birthday. I was privileged to see how many people he influenced and how highly everyone spoke of his attention to detail and collaboration! Though he couldn’t attend in person, I met Priscilla Grew, who kindly invited me to the celebration dinner in his honour. During our conversation, Ed called her, and I was fortunate to speak with him briefly! His papers on Boron and Lithium mineralogy and mineral ecology introduced me to the concept of mineral evolution, which led to a great collaboration with Bob Hazen and many others. I wouldn’t have even considered attending such conferences without them.

Marko Bermanec in front of the Giant’s Causeway basalt columns.
Priscilla Grew and I at the conference venue on Tuesday.

The dinner in Ed’s honour was the highlight of the conference. At first, I felt out of place sitting at the head table with Priscilla, but everyone welcomed me, and I began to understand the importance of these events—bridging gaps between generations and connecting young scientists with more experienced community members. I was even urged by Priscilla Grew and Bob Hazen to give a short speech about Ed’s importance to me as an early career scientist.

On Friday, it was finally my turn to present some of the work from my Master’s thesis. I looked forward to the community’s feedback and am very grateful to those who approached me afterward to discuss the details. I value all the positive feedback I got from the experts of the field as I hope to publish my thesis results. Overall, I’m extremely grateful to everyone who took time to talk with me this week. It was a wonderful experience, and I’m thankful to the EAG for the opportunity to attend. I’d highly recommend all students interested in mineralogy and geochemistry to attend the next EMC and not hesitate to approach anyone with questions.

About the Author

Marko Bergmanec

Marko Bermanec

Marko Bermanec, born 1999 in Zagreb, Croatia finished his school education in Zagreb, where he also enrolled in the Bachelor’s program of the Department of Geology at the Faculty of Science of the University of Zagreb. He obtained his BSc degree with Magna Cum Laude during the Covid period, which urged him to explore other venues of research. During this time, he published his first paper on ardennite found in North Macedonia and he also reached out to researchers at the Carnegie Earth and Planets Laboratory, intrigued by their data-driven approaches to mineralogy and mineral evolution. Since then, he has closely collaborated with Bob Hazen to publish 5 peer-reviewed papers together, 4 of which he was the lead author on.

He obtained his MSc degree from the Universities of Bern and Fribourg in Switzerland, where under the guidance of Profs. Thomas Pettke and Jörg Hermann, he completed a thesis on pegmatite petrogenesis. He worked as a student assistant during this period in the LA-ICP-MS lab, preparing and analyzing bulk rock pressed powder pellets for the petrology group.

Overall, his research is largely focused on statistical approaches to mineral datasets, behavior and evolution of average mineral properties such as symmetry and Mohs hardness through deep time, mineral evolution and ecology, and pegmatite petrogenesis studies through FTIR, LA-ICP-MS and SEM of quartz and other major minerals in pegmatites.