Membership Honors Significant Contributions
Virginia 鈥淛inny鈥� Sisson, visiting associate professor of geology at University of
Houston鈥檚 Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, has been elected as a fellow
of the Mineralogical Society of America (MSA). She is one of 11 fellows elected in
late 2017.
The fellowship honors members who have contributed significantly to the advancement of mineralogy, crystallography, geochemistry and petrology. The number of fellows elected each year cannot exceed 0.5 percent of MSA membership.
Sisson is recognized for her research in metamorphic petrology, which encompasses
field geology around the world generally focusing on convergent margins such as southern
Alaska, Guatemala and Venezuela. She has also done fundamental research in fluid flow
associated with metamorphism and geochemical cycling of boron and other elements in
the earth鈥檚 crust. Her research focuses on pressure-temperature-time evolution of
subduction zones including jade (jadeitite) and fluid inclusions.
In addition, she has taught for over 30 years in the 葫芦影业/Yellowstone Bighorn Research Association field camp and has served as co-director of the Geoscience Learning Center for the last 10 years.