MGMH · Harvard Spring 2026 Newsletter Now on view · Harvard Museum of Natural History ** From the Earth to the Art: A Year of Ruby at Harvard ------------------------------------------------------------ Opened May 15, 2026 · on view through May 2027 Rough ruby specimens on display Twenty rubies from twelve countries, and a butterfly at the heart of it all. A new year-long exhibit at the Harvard Museum of Natural History traces ruby's full journey, from the rough crystal in the rock, to the cut and polished gem, to the finished work of jewelry art. Curated by MGMH Curator Raquel Alonso-Perez and Collections Manager Rachel Gnieski, the show brings together twenty specimens from twelve countries, anchored by a singular ruby butterfly created by artist Austy Lee (https://harvard.us16.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d767b85c9444f80e4eaf6ce63&id=2d339a124a&e=d3783afa8e) . ** I. From the Earth ------------------------------------------------------------ Ruby is the red variety of the mineral corundum, and the rough specimens on view tell a global story. Visitors can compare crystals from the legendary Mogok Valley of Myanmar, the historic deposits of Afghanistan and Pakistan, and contemporary sources in Mozambique, Tanzania's Umba Valley, Kenya, Vietnam's Luc Yen Mine, Thailand, Australia's Northern Territory, Macedonia, Nepal's Ganesh Himal deposit, and even North Carolina's Propst Farm, a reminder that ruby's geography is wider than most visitors expect. A new ruby exhibit at the Harvard Museum of Natural History From rough crystal to faceted gem, the exhibit reads as a geological tour of where ruby is born. ** II. The Gem's Geometry ------------------------------------------------------------ Among the cut stones are trapiche ruby earrings from Pakistan, designed by Sean Smokovich, whose hexagonal patterns capture the geometry of ruby's crystal habit. Three star ruby rings, including a 13.55-carat stone and a 2.80-carat piece designed by Eddie Sakamoto, showcase asterism, the rare optical phenomenon where a six-rayed star floats inside the stone. In a handful of these, two intersecting stars create the prized "double-star" effect, a feature only a few rubies in the world ever display. ** III. The Butterfly ------------------------------------------------------------ At the center of the exhibit is a ruby butterfly designed by artist Austy Lee, the singular centerpiece around which the show is built, and the first time this work has been on public view. Ruby butterfly centerpiece designed by Austy Lee The ruby butterfly by Austy Lee, the heart of the exhibit. ** IV. From the Art ------------------------------------------------------------ The exhibit closes with contemporary jewelry: a ruby pendant on a black-diamond and ruby-bead necklace by Zobel & Schmid, a Mogok ruby bracelet and earring set by Harry Tutanjian, a Mozambique ruby bracelet by Niveet Nagpal – Omi, ring work by Eddie Sakamoto, the trapiche earrings of Sean Smokovich, and Austy Lee's centerpiece. Together they show what happens when geology meets the hand of a contemporary artist. With gratitude This exhibit would not exist without the generosity of long-standing MGMH friends, Bill Larson of Pala International, Shelly Sergent of Somewhere in the Rainbow, private collectors, and Austy Lee, who entrusted their collections to our care for a year. Plan your visit → (https://harvard.us16.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d767b85c9444f80e4eaf6ce63&id=6133f6bdef&e=d3783afa8e) On the road · 71st Tucson Gem & Mineral Show · February 12–15, 2026 ** Elements of a Nation: MGMH at Tucson 2026 ------------------------------------------------------------ Tucson Convention Center · This year's theme: Red, White & Blue MGMH exhibit at the 71st Tucson Gem and Mineral Show The MGMH exhibit at the Tucson Convention Center, February 2026. MGMH was invited back as a Special Exhibitor at the 71st annual Tucson Gem & Mineral Show, held at the Tucson Convention Center, February 12–15, 2026. This year's theme, Red, White & Blue, celebrated the United States' 250th anniversary; we responded with Elements of a Nation, a coast-to-coast journey through American mineralogy told in the colors of the flag. ** Elements of a Nation ------------------------------------------------------------ Red · Industrial fires and rare American treasures Zincite and rubies of the East, the deep saturated Cuprite of Bisbee, Arizona, and, at the journey's pinnacle, Utah's world-famous Red Beryl, a gemstone found in gem quality nowhere else on Earth. White · The crystalline backbone of a country Aragonite and Strontianite of the heartland, the high-altitude Quartz of the Colorado Rockies, and the "white gold" Borates of the California deserts, minerals that built two and a half centuries of national growth. Blue · Beauty and scientific mystery The world-renowned "Bisbee Blues", Azurite from southern Arizona, alongside Linarite from the same region, and California's official state gem, Benitoite. A patriotic mosaic, and a reminder that the country's natural wealth is itself a kind of history. ** Other exhibits worth noting ------------------------------------------------------------ Among the standout displays this year was “GAMIN’: Gems & Minerals in Video Games” by Aaron Celestian (https://harvard.us16.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d767b85c9444f80e4eaf6ce63&id=fafbdee3e9&e=d3783afa8e) , Curator of Mineral Sciences at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (https://harvard.us16.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d767b85c9444f80e4eaf6ce63&id=4b2c500191&e=d3783afa8e) . Aaron paired real specimens with data on how often, and how accurately, minerals appear in a $220+ billion industry, building an accessible argument for mineralogy as a discipline that already lives inside the cultural mainstream, whether or not players notice. A reminder that the path from rock to popular imagination is shorter than it looks. GAMIN', Gems and Minerals in Video Games exhibit by Aaron Celestian, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County Aaron Celestian’s GAMIN’ case at NHMLAC: minerals on the show floor, mineralogy on the screen. ** A friend of MGMH: Matrix India ------------------------------------------------------------ Every Tucson visit brings a stop at the Matrix India suite, where Fasi Makki has been a steady, generous friend of MGMH for years. This February he earmarked another round of specimens for Cambridge, Red Fluorescent Calcite, Iridescent Hematite, Pyrite, and Himalayan Crystalline Quartz, a quiet through-line of acquisitions that keeps the teaching and research collection growing year over year. Raquel with Fasi Makki at the Matrix India suite in Tucson Raquel with Fasi Makki of Matrix India, specimens already chosen, already on their way home to MGMH. ** A small, singular ammolite ------------------------------------------------------------ Also coming home from Tucson: a new loan of small but exceptional ammolite specimens from Granada Gallery, a longtime friend of MGMH. The pieces are already on display at the Harvard Museum of Natural History. Ammolite is rare. It is the iridescent fossil shell of an ammonite, found in commercial quality nowhere on Earth except the Bearpaw Formation of Alberta, Canada. The finest material is mined along the St. Mary River, which runs directly through the Kainai Nation (Blood Reserve), the largest Indigenous reservation in Canada, so every polished piece carries with it a story of geography and stewardship as much as geology. A piece from the new ammolite loan from Granada Gallery, held in hand A larger ammolite specimen in its dark shale matrix at the Granada Gallery booth in Tucson Left: a piece from the new MGMH loan, already on display at the HMNH alongside its bigger sister. Right: a larger ammolite specimen, still in its dark shale matrix, seen at the Granada Gallery booth. ** Around the show ------------------------------------------------------------ Tucson is also where the global mineralogical community converges. Beyond the features above, a few more moments worth flagging from around the floor: With Brice Gobin at the Tucson show Smithsonian display at Tucson Left: Brice Gobin, who helped set up the Erika Pohl-Ströher display case. Right: the Smithsonian's always-formidable display. ** Off the show floor ------------------------------------------------------------ Between sessions, one afternoon was spent at the San Xavier del Bac Mission (https://harvard.us16.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d767b85c9444f80e4eaf6ce63&id=30b8a44cb6&e=d3783afa8e) just south of Tucson, the eighteenth-century church known as the “White Dove of the Desert.” A side alcove off the nave held rows of votive candles in many colors, set beneath a small statue of the Virgin Mary and a few paper flowers. Votive candle alcove at San Xavier del Bac Mission near Tucson Votive candles at San Xavier del Bac Mission, a different kind of color spectrum. With thanks Our thanks to the Tucson Gem & Mineral Society for the invitation; to Fasi Makki and Matrix India for the continuing generosity; and to Granada Gallery for the ammolite loan, now on display at the Harvard Museum of Natural History. On the road · MSA Annual Meeting · February 16–19, 2026 ** Among Mineralogists: MGMH at the MSA Annual Meeting in Tucson ------------------------------------------------------------ Mineralogical Society of America · Annual Meeting, Tucson Welcome slide at the inaugural Mineralogical Society of America Annual Meeting in Tucson Prof Bob Bodnar, MSA president, prof st Virginia Tech opened the meeting. Tucson, February 16, 2026, the MSA Annual Meeting opens. Picking up where the Gem & Mineral Show left off, MGMH stayed in Tucson for the Annual Meeting of the Mineralogical Society of America, February 16–19, 2026, the first time the meeting had come to Tucson. Four days of talks, posters, and reconnection with the global mineralogical community. Featured talk Raquel Alonso-Perez presented her recent paper, Micro-Raman Spectroscopy Characterization of Emeralds Combined With LA-ICP-MS Analysis and Multivariate Statistical Methods (https://harvard.us16.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d767b85c9444f80e4eaf6ce63&id=4dbd3db5e3&e=d3783afa8e) The study combines vibrational spectroscopy, laser-ablation trace-element analysis, and multivariate statistical methods to characterize emerald specimens, the kind of integrated, multi-technique workflow MGMH increasingly relies on for research and gem-origin questions. Published in the Journal of Raman Spectroscopy. John Rakovan presenting at the inaugural MSA Annual Meeting Raquel with Barb at the inaugural MSA Annual Meeting Left: Dr. John Rakovan (https://harvard.us16.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d767b85c9444f80e4eaf6ce63&id=cbb0906e59&e=d3783afa8e) , Senior Mineral Museum Curator at the New Mexico Bureau of Geology & Mineral Resources, presenting on the New Mexico Mineral Museum. Right: Raquel and Barbara Dutrow between sessions. For MGMH, the week was a kind of quiet homecoming: many of the colleagues, collaborators, and friends behind our recent research, exhibits, and acquisitions were in the same room together. Research · 2nd International Seminar on Gold Traceability · December 2–5, 2025 ** From Emeralds to Gold: AI in the Service of Provenance ------------------------------------------------------------ Brasília, Brazil · Instituto Nacional de Criminalística Panel discussion at the 2nd International Seminar on Illicit Activities and Traceability in the Gold Supply Chain, Brasília The 2nd International Seminar on Illicit Activities and Traceability in the Gold Supply Chain, Brasília, December 2025. In December 2025, Raquel was invited to give a talk and panel discussion at the 2nd International Seminar on Illicit Activities and Traceability in the Gold Supply Chain, hosted in Brasília by Brazil’s Instituto Nacional de Criminalística, the Federal Police’s forensic science institute. The invitation grew out of her existing research on emerald provenance using machine learning, and asked a natural follow-up question: can the same approach work for gold? ** I. From the wire crystals up ------------------------------------------------------------ The talk, “What Can We Expect from Innovation and Artificial Intelligence in Gold Traceability, ” opened with a tour of MGMH’s natural-gold holdings: wire and crystal specimens from Colombia (Antioquia), Brazil (Mato Grosso), Venezuela, and California (Tuolumne County, Forest Hills, Irish Creek). It then moved to the analytical question underneath: every gold deposit on Earth carries a slightly different chemical signature, but the differences are very slight. The science Natural gold-silver alloys vary by source. Colorado gold runs roughly Au[65]Ag[35], while Colombian gold sits closer to Au[88]Ag[12]. Trace platinum-group elements shift with geological context: Colombian gold runs depleted in Ru and Ir but rich in Os and Pd, a pattern consistent with chlorine-rich subduction fluids, while Colorado gold gives a flatter trace-element line. Man-made gold (medals, coins) is the easiest to spot of all: copper added for durability and color, and characteristic losses of Ru and Os during high-temperature casting. Preliminary results. These patterns come from a small set of gold samples studied so far. The work is ongoing and remains unpublished. Gold-anodized LA-ICP-MS sample holder with polished mounts of gold and reference materials The LA-ICP-MS sample holder: gold mounts ready for laser-ablation analysis. ** II. Why machine learning? Emeralds were the proof of concept. ------------------------------------------------------------ Telling Colombian gold from Colorado gold by eye is impossible. Telling them apart from a single LA-ICP-MS measurement is hard. But over many samples and many elements, statistical methods start to find structure. Raquel’s group has spent years building this approach for emeralds. The launchpad paper for the gold question is “Exploring emerald global geochemical provenance through fingerprinting and machine learning methods” (https://harvard.us16.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d767b85c9444f80e4eaf6ce63&id=883521b61f&e=d3783afa8e) (Alonso-Perez, Day, Pearson, Luo, Palacios, Sudhakar, and Palke, 2024), which showed that LA-ICP-MS trace-element data combined with machine learning could resolve emerald source localities at meaningful accuracy. ** III. The catch: gold is harder than emeralds ------------------------------------------------------------ Three reasons: 1. Gold is extremely chemically pure. Trace elements, the very information machine learning relies on, are often at or near detection limits, leaving less signal to train on. 2. Many deposits share signatures. Gold mined across the Amazon basin looks nearly identical chemically, because the source rocks and the geological processes that produced them are related. 3. Provenance records aren’t always complete. Historical samples may lack precise locality data, limiting how much supervised learning is feasible. ** IV. Inside the lab ------------------------------------------------------------ Outside the lecture hall, the program included a look at the host institute’s analytical lab and the systematic registration and characterization of seized gold. It is the kind of context that makes the academic work feel less abstract: a trace-element line on a screen is also a bar on a scale, a case file, a question about where this came from and where it was going. Analytical lab at the Instituto Nacional de Criminalística, Brazilian Federal Police Inside the analytical lab at the Instituto Nacional de Criminalística. The meeting brought together people who rarely sit in the same room: mineralogists, statisticians, forensic scientists, environmental researchers, and policymakers working on the Amazon and the Guianas. For MGMH it confirmed something useful, that the analytical workflow we have refined on emeralds is being looked to as a model. The harder work now is figuring out how much of it actually transfers, and where new methods will need to be invented. On campus · A visit from Big Manny ** A Day at MGMH: Big Manny Comes to Cambridge ------------------------------------------------------------ A diamond stop, then a long detour through everything else Big Manny smiling with a Cartier tiara on loan from Somewhere in the Rainbow, the giant Naica gypsum crystals at MGMH behind him Big Manny with a Cartier tiara on loan from Somewhere in the Rainbow, the giant Naica gypsum crystals just behind him. Big Manny (https://harvard.us16.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d767b85c9444f80e4eaf6ce63&id=40691fa8d2&e=d3783afa8e) stopped by MGMH to see the natural-diamond collection, and (predictably) was sidetracked by the gems, minerals, and jewelry around them. Through his Instagram channel he has brought science, experiments, and curiosity to one of the largest audiences in online science, 1.6 million followers and counting, in a register that meets people where they are. The MGMH team spent a long, generous day with him, sharing collections and equipment, and watching his interest in the natural world expand in real time. Big Manny filming behind the scenes at MGMH, with the giant Naica gypsum crystals in the case behind him Big Manny in the MGMH analytical lab, periodic-table screen visible at left Left: behind the scenes, phone-rigged for shooting in front of the gypsum case. Right: in the analytical lab, periodic table glowing on the wall. It is hard to overstate how much it matters when someone with that kind of reach takes the long way around a museum, lingers at the cases, asks questions to the MGMH team, and leaves with the same kind of curiosity audiences feel when they watch him. A whole day of mineralogy, gone in what felt like an afternoon. On the road · New England Mineral Conference · May 15–17, 2026 ** Fluorites at Sunday River: MGMH at the New England Mineral Conference ------------------------------------------------------------ Sunday River Resort · Newry, Maine MGMH exhibit case at the New England Mineral Conference: a colorful set of fluorites from Hardin County, Illinois MGMH’s exhibit case at the conference: a colorful run of fluorites from the Hardin County, Illinois area. The New England Mineral Conference returned to Sunday River Resort in Newry, Maine, this May 15–17. MGMH brought a colorful exhibit of fluorites from the Hardin County, Illinois area, and Collections Manager Rachel Gnieski gave two talks on the program. ** I. Rachel Gnieski, twice on the program ------------------------------------------------------------ Rachel’s first talk presented single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis of smithsonites from Tsumeb, Namibia (https://harvard.us16.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d767b85c9444f80e4eaf6ce63&id=bd11fc3f04&e=d3783afa8e) , a follow-on to research MGMH has been quietly building around our Tsumeb holdings. Her second was institutional: on making museum collections more findable and accessible for the broader community, with practical methods, working examples, and the data discipline behind both. Rachel Gnieski opens her talk on museum collections and data accesibility, New England Mineral Conference 2026 Rachel Gnieski opens her talk on on museum collections and data accesibility. ** II. From the floor ------------------------------------------------------------ On Friday the Sunday River ballroom was packed with mineral enthusiasts and researchers gathered for technical talks on pegmatite mineralogy and new finds at New England mines. Saturday widened the lens: Bob Hazen proposing a new law of nature, and Jim Nizamoff making the case, with method, for getting into micromount collecting. The sessions closed with David Soncrant, John Sassi, and Myles Felch on the history of the quarry and the conference’s cover specimen: a gem spodumene from Georgetown, Maine. In print · Rocks & Minerals · May/June 2026 ** Connoisseur’s Choice: Otavite, Tsumeb, Namibia ------------------------------------------------------------ Rocks & Minerals, Vol. 101, No. 3 Rocks & Minerals magazine, May/June 2026 issue, featuring the Otavite, Tsumeb article The May/June 2026 issue of Rocks & Minerals, with our Otavite article inside. A new article in the Connoisseur’s Choice column of Rocks & Minerals (May/June 2026), co-authored by Malcolm Southwood (MGMH), Frank Keutsch (Harvard Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences), and Raquel Alonso-Perez (MGMH), profiles otavite (CdCO[3]), a rare cadmium carbonate from Tsumeb, Namibia (https://harvard.us16.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d767b85c9444f80e4eaf6ce63&id=231b9cfdcb&e=d3783afa8e) . Cadmium is scarce, ranking sixty-sixth among elements in the Earth’s crust, and only thirty-four IMA-approved minerals carry it in their formulae. Five of those have Tsumeb as their type locality. Otavite was the very first new mineral described from the deposit, named for the surrounding Otavi mining field. Otavite on cerussite, with azurite, malachite and rosasite; 75 mm specimen, MGMH 2022.4.10042D, image by Malcolm Southwood MGMH 2022.4.10042D- Otavite (on cerussite; with azurite, malachite, and rosasite), Mark Feinglos Collection; 75 mm. Image credit: Malcolm Southwood. On staff · Spring 2026 Intern Spotlight ** Kalyn Groutas: A Spring in the Archives ------------------------------------------------------------ Simmons University · Master’s in Library and Information Sciences Kalyn Groutas in the MGMH archives, spring 2026 Kalyn Groutas in the MGMH archives, spring 2026. This spring, MGMH had the great fortune of working with Kalyn Groutas, our Simmons University intern. Kalyn rehoused and organized a substantial portion of our archives, bringing the kind of knowledge about archival storage, finding aids, and the data discipline behind them that leaves a collection meaningfully better than she found it. Kalyn graduated from Simmons this spring with a master’s in library and information sciences. She is pursuing a career as a museum archivist, and we could not wish her better. The archives, and the researchers who will use them, are quietly better for her time with us. Thank you, Kalyn. In Memoriam ** George Rossman and Mike Scott ------------------------------------------------------------ Two mentors, remembered Raquel in Palo Alto with George Rossman and Mike Scott in Mike's collection workspace With George Rossman and Mike Scott in Palo Alto. This past year MGMH lost two beloved friends and mentors within less than a year of one another: George R. Rossman (https://harvard.us16.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d767b85c9444f80e4eaf6ce63&id=36e1007b88&e=d3783afa8e) , longtime professor of mineralogy at Caltech, and Mike Scott, an extraordinary collector and a longtime friend of MGMH’s gems and jewelry collection (https://harvard.us16.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d767b85c9444f80e4eaf6ce63&id=2a419e84a3&e=d3783afa8e) . George and I used to fly together to Palo Alto to visit Mike and play with his collection. They tested me at every turn, gentle quizzes that wanted to see whether I really knew my minerals, and they always seemed pleasantly surprised when I passed. I learned more on those visits than I can measure. I miss my incredible mentors. · Until next time · With thanks to the artists, collectors, colleagues, and students who walked through MGMH this season, to the hosts who took us to Tucson, Brasília, and Newry, and to the more than 100 mineral specimens we sent out this past year in support of over 20 research and educational projects. Mineralogical & Geological Museum Harvard University · Cambridge, Massachusetts The MGMH Team Raquel Alonso-Perez, Curator Kevin Czaja, Assistant Curator Rachel Gnieski, Collections Manager Katie Sanders, Curatorial Assistant mgmh.fas.harvard.edu (https://harvard.us16.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d767b85c9444f80e4eaf6ce63&id=6a15e6d46a&e=d3783afa8e) This email was sent to msa-talk@minlists.org (mailto:msa-talk@minlists.org) why did I get this? 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