Francis Albarede

Biosketch

Francis Albarède is an isotope geochemist and emeritus professor at the École Normale Supérieure de Lyon, and Wiess Visiting Professor at Rice University. He began his career studying the geochemistry of volcanic rocks and the tectonics of the Pyrenees. After his Ph.D. at the University of Paris 7 and a postdoctoral fellowship at Caltech, he became professor at the École Nationale Supérieure de Géologie in Nancy, where he created a laboratory for isotope geochemistry, built an ion probe group, and pioneered research on hydrothermal systems, crustal growth, and mantle convection. At Lyon, he introduced the first multiple-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer dedicated to isotope geochemistry, expanding analytical capabilities across the periodic table. His research spans mantle dynamics, planetary accretion, early Earth environments, paleoceanography, and isotope applications from archaeology to medicine. He led a European Research Council Advanced Grant on silver isotopes, revealing Mediterranean silver fluxes and the rise of coinage. He served as editor of Earth and Planetary Science Letters, senior editor of the Journal of Geophysical Research (Solid Earth), president of the European Association of Geochemistry, and international secretary of the American Geophysical Union. He is a member of the French Académie des Sciences, Academia Europaea, and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, a fellow of the AGU and Geochemical Society, and the recipient of the CNRS Silver Medal, Bowen Award, Holmes Medal, Goldschmidt Award, Nemmers Prize.

Research Interests

Recently, Francis Albarède has focused on the high precision isotope geochemistry of silver and lead, leveraging his pioneering work with MC ICP MS to investigate the origin and movement of silver resources in antiquity. His European Research Council Advanced Grant project, SILVER: Isotopes and the Rise of Money, aims to understand silver fluxes across the Mediterranean and the emergence of silver coinage as a medium of exchange. By combining silver isotope fractionation with lead isotope fingerprinting of ores and coins, his team has traced metal sources, trade routes, and economic networks that underpinned the development of early monetary systems (Journal of Archaeological Science, 2024).
Beyond economic archaeology, Albarède has also developed a strong interest in the chemistry of ancient oceans. In collaboration with paleontologists, sedimentologists, and geochemists, he has explored climate changes during the Early Paleozoic and their role in the rise and diversification of eukaryotes, linking ocean redox evolution and biogeochemical cycles to critical transitions in Earth’s biological history.
He currently leads a working group of the French National Academy of Sciences on Climate Geoengineering, contributing to the assessment of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) and solar radiation management (SRM) strategies within scientific, governance, and risk frameworks. His participation in the 2025 Collège de France Symposium “Geoengineering at a Glance” underscores his commitment to applying Earth science expertise to pressing societal and planetary challenges.