The University of British Columbia

• Diamond genesis and mantle fluids
• The origin cratonic lithosphere
• Mantle convection: Archean tectonics and modern plate-tectonic evolution
• The big carbon cycle (atmosphere-lithosphere-mantle-core)
• Analytical technique development and application
• Resource exploration (all forms)
• Earth-systems engineering
• Science outreach

Why diamonds? Diamonds are not treasure, they are treasure chests. Diamonds are robust vessels that routinely carry inclusions of minerals and fluids from otherwise inaccessable depths of the earth. Its inclusions also reach back in time, up to 3.5 Ga, providing a cryptic record of the formation of continents and the beginings of plate tectonics. No other mineral does this. Every diamond is a story, and therein lies its true value.