Jeffrey M. Dick, theoretical geochemist and developer of CHNOSZ
I am from the Hoosier State and live in Changsha, China, where I work as a Geochemistry Researcher in the School of Geosciences and Info-Physics at Central South University. I pursue a wide range of frontier applications of thermodynamics and compositional analysis.
Thermodynamic software
My PhD research project required reproducible thermodynamic modeling of reactions involving organic species and biomolecules. That is why I started developing the free CHNOSZ R package for thermodynamic calculations and diagrams (Geochemical Transactions, 2008), which has grown to be useful for many applications in geochemistry and geobiochemistry (Frontiers in Earth Science, 2019).
Thermodynamic data
Of course, thermodynamic models are only possible if the data for chemical species are available. I have worked on thermodynamic data for proteins for geobiochemical modeling (Biogeosciences, 2006) and phenanthrene and isomers of methylphenanthrene for organic geochemistry (Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 2013).
Geobiochemistry
Compositional analysis of field data provides the substance of descriptions and predictions. Thermodynamic models have targeted the integration of geochemical conditions and chemical composition of proteins (PLOS One, 2011) as well as the taxonomic makeup of microbial communities (PLOS One, 2013). New work explores multiple dimensions of compositional variation that are specific for redox gradients (Frontiers in Microbiology, 2019) and salinity gradients (Biogeosciences Discussions, 2020).
Compositional Biology
A geochemical perspective places biochemical reactions in context. The physicochemical conditions of tumors provide a microenvironment that affects metabolism and consequently the compositions of biomolecules. Compositional analysis of differentially expressed proteins shows that uptake of water may be a major biochemical feature of cancer (PeerJ, 2017; bioRxiv, 2020).