Keiko Hattori is a Japanese geochemist and mineralogist. She is Distinguished University Professor of Geochemistry and Mineral Deposits in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Ottawa. Hattori is most known for her research on aspects of Earth's atmospheric and mantle evolution, as well as the formation of arc volcanoes and the generation of metal-fertile volcanic arcs. Her application of this knowledge has led to insights regarding the origins and locations of mineral deposits. Specifically, she has conducted research on the transfer of chalcophile elements (copper-like elements) from slabs to arc magmas through mantle wedges, as well as from arc magmas to mineral deposits. Additionally, her work has encompassed exploration geochemistry, where she has investigated the dispersion of metals from buried deposits including platinum and palladium in surface media. She was appointed as the 2022 International Exchange Lecturer of the Society of Economic Geologists (SEG), and has been the recipient of the Island Arc Award and the Takeo Kato Gold Medal. Hattori is an elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and Mineralogical Society of America.
Education Hattori was the first female undergraduate student in the Geology Department at the University of Tokyo, which was established in 1877. She completed her master's and PhD in isotope geochemistry there.
Career Hattori began her academic career as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Alberta in Edmonton in 1977 and participated in the International Drilling project as a Canadian delegate to study volcanic rocks and thermal alteration in Iceland. In 1980, she moved to the University of Calgary as a research associate jointly affiliated with the Department of Physics and the Department of Geology and Geophysics. Three years later, she joined the University of Ottawa as an assistant professor and was promoted to associate professor in the Department of Geology in 1987. She was the first female professor in earth science departments within the national capital region as well as the first female professor of mineral deposits in Canada. In 1994 she became full professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Ottawa. She was awarded the title of Distinguished University Professor in 2023 for her contributions to scientific research and education. Hattori has held numerous administrative appointments throughout her career. From July 1991 to June 1994, she served as the director of the Ottawa-Carleton Geoscience Centre. In 2004, she was appointed as the department chair for Earth Sciences at the University of Ottawa, a position she held for four years. Apart from the administrative work related to universities, she has been engaged in the activities of several scientific organizations including Mineralogical Society of America, Society of Economic Geologists, and Royal Society of Canada. She is Director of Earth, Ocean and Atmosphere Science Division of Royal Society of Canada (2021-2024). Hattori was an appraiser of graduate-research programs at various Ontario Universities (1999-2002) and geoscience program reviewers of American University of Beirut in Lebanon (2016-17), Western University (2012) and Hiroshima University (2009). Hattori has been appointed as visiting professor at Université de Lyon (1999) and l'Universiteé Grenoble (2016), visiting scientist at Japan Marine Science and Technology (2003-2004), visiting professor at Nagoya Institute, Guest Research Scientists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (1995-1996), Visiting Research Scientist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1989-1990).
Research Hattori has made contributions to the field of earth sciences, utilizing trace element geochemistry and stable and radiogenic isotopes to understand the earth processes. During the early stages of her career, she focused on studying active volcanoes and associated hydrothermal activity. However, a tragic accident atop a Colombian volcano, resulting in the loss of several colleagues, prompted her to shift her research focus to ancient volcanic terranes in Canada. Over the past 14 years, she has conducted research in various regions of subduction zones worldwide, where oceanic crust subducts and forms arc volcanoes and mountain belts. Her investigations involve examining rocks and collecting samples to analyze the intricate processes of subduction and the subsequent return of materials to the surface through volcanoes. Her research areas have included the Himalayas (Northern Pakistan, Northern India), Italian and French Alps, Turkey, China, Japan, Philippines, Peru, and the Dominican Republic. Hattori's contributions to the earth sciences primarily center on utilizing the abundance of redox-sensitive elements and their isotopic compositions to interpret processes from the surface to the mantle. Her discoveries include the timing of the abrupt rise in atmospheric oxygen content at around 2.2 billion years ago during Earth's evolution, the definition of osmium isotope evolution in the mantle, the identification of serpentine as the reservoir of water and fluid-mobile elements in the mantle, and the provision of evidence that oxidized mafic magmas bring base metals and sulfur from the mantle to form giant copper deposits that supply many critical metals for society. In addition, her work has contributed to the discovery of such critical metal deposits through the mobility of metals in surface waters.
… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.
