Report on the Sixth International Symposium on Isotopomers

The ISI 2012 met in Washington, DC, 18-22 June 2012, bringing together researchers and their students spanning an unusually wide range of disciplines including quantum and physical chemistry, cosmochemistry, atmospheric chemistry, chemical oceanography, biogeochemistry, organic and inorganic geochemistry. The diversity of subject matter was matched geographically with 92 attendees hailing from Canada, China, Finland, France, Germany, India, Israel, Japan, the Netherlands, Russia, Switzerland, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and the USA. Although diverse, the group was united in its commitment to use the light stable isotopes of H, C, N, O, and S, with their equilibrium, kinetic, and intramolecular fractionations, to understand the material cycles and their dynamics between atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere that make life possible on Earth. A distinct benefit of a small meeting like ISI 2012 is the opportunity for everyone to talk to each other. The historic rooms of the Carnegie Institution of Washington offered a cozy and warm atmosphere for participants in ISI 2012 to talk science and life in a casual, relaxed, and in-depth fashion. Graduate students and postdoctoral researchers were particularly appreciative of being able to spend five days together with old and new colleagues in comfortable quarters. Many commented that they hadmore » gained a lot more in building their life-long working relationships with colleagues at this meeting than at larger meetings.« less