Peter C. Burns Massman
Professor
Director, Energy Frontier Research Center
Concurrent Professor,
Chemistry and Biochemistry
Ph.D. Thesis: The Stereochemistry of Cu2+ Oxysalt Minerals: An Ab Initio Molecular-Orbital Approach
M.Sc. (Geology) (1990) University of Western OntarioM.Sc. Thesis: Tetrahedral-Site Ordering in Synthetic Gallium Albite
B.Sc. (Honours) (1988) University of New BrunswickB.Sc. Thesis: Hexaborates From the Cassidy Lake Formation, Sussex, New Brunswick
In 2005 the Burns research group published the first of a family of novel uranyl peroxide hydroxide spherical nanoclusters. To date, we have reported the synthesis and structures of nanoclusters containing 24, 28, 32, 40 and 50 uranium atoms. Additional papers will be forthcoming that report U16, U20 (multiple topologies), U24 (open), U36, U44 and U60. We will also be completing a "roadmap" for the synthesis of specific members of this complex family of actinide nano-scale clusters.
The Burns group has published extensively in uranium mineralogy, and has reported the crystal structures of dozens of uranyl minerals including autunite, bijvoetite, vandendriesscheite, wolsendorfite, boltwoodite, compreignacite, masuyite, haweeite, weeksite, fontanite, billietite, richetite, zippeite, and studtite.
The structure of studtite, reported by Burns and Kubatko (2003) is the first structure of a peroxide mineral, and the only one published to date. As reported by Kubatko et al. (2003) in Science, studtite forms in nature where radioactivity causes the formation of peroxide in water. Studtite was the first structure found that involved shared edges between any uranyl peroxide polyhedra, and the Burns group later developed a complex group of nano-structured uranium materials based upon this linkage.
The Burns group has examined the impacts of uranium mineralogy on the release of radionuclides from nuclear waste in a geological repository, such as Yucca Mountain. Much of the emphasis has been on neptunium, as it has a long half-life and is potentially mobile in the environment.
Burns has published extensively on borate mineralogy, copper minerals, and a variety of exotic new minerals. He has published structural hierarchies for borate minerals, sulfate minerals, inorganic uranium compounds, and inorganic neptunium compounds.
| 2009-present | Director, Energy Frontier Research Center | |
| 2009-present | The Henry Massman Professor of Civil Engineering & Geological Sciences, University of Notre Dame | |
| 2002-2009 | Massman Chair of the Department of Civil Engineering and Geological Sciences, University of Notre Dame | |
| 2007-present | Concurrent Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Notre Dame | |
| 2002-2009 | Professor of Civil Engineering and Geological Sciences, University of Notre Dame | |
| 2002-present | Special Term Appointment, Chemistry Division, Argonne National Laboratory | |
| 2000-2002 | Massman Associate Professor of Civil Engineering and Geological Sciences, Department of Civil Engineering and Geological Sciences, University of Notre Dame | |
| 1999-2002 | Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Civil Engineering and Geological Sciences, University of Notre Dame | |
| 1999-2002 | Associate Professor of Civil Engineering and Geological Sciences, University of Notre Dame | |
| 1997-1999 | Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering and Geological Sciences, University of Notre Dame | |
| 1996-1997 | Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Geology, University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign | |
| 1995-1996 | NSERC Post-Doctoral Fellow, Department of Earth and Planetary
Sciences, University of New Mexico Topic: Structural hierarchy of U6+ phases: applications to the disposal of nuclear Waste |
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| 1994-1995 | NSERC Post-Doctoral Fellow, Department of Earth Sciences, University
of Cambridge Topic: Phase transitions and microstructures of minerals |
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| 1994-1995 | Research Fellow, Clare Hall College, University of Cambridge | |
| 1990-1994 | Lecturer and Teaching Assistant, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Manitoba | |
| 1988-1989 | Teaching Assistant, Department of Geology, University of Western Ontario | |
| 1986-1988 | Teaching Assistant, Department of Geology, University of New Brunswick | |
| 1986 | Research Assistant, Department of Geology, University of New Brunswick |
| 2009-2010 | National Academy of Science Nuclear Waste Form Committee | |
| 2010-2011 | Chair, Officer Nomination Committee, Mineralogical Society of America | |
| 2008-2009 | Chair, Roebling Medal Committee, Mineralogical Society of America | |
| 2010-2012 | Past-President, Mineralogical Association of Canada | |
| 2008-2010 | President, Mineralogical Association of Canada | |
| 2006-2008 | Vice President, Mineralogical Association of Canada | |
| 2008-2010 | Member of Council, Mineralogical Society of America | |
| 2005-present | College of Reviewers for the Canada Research Chairs program | |
| 2005-2008 | Advanced Photon Source General Proposal Review Panel | |
| 2005-2006 | Editorial Advisory Board, Elements, An International Magazine of Mineralogy, Geochemistry and Petrology | |
| 2001-2006 | Associate Editor, American Mineralogist | |
| 1998-2004 | Associate Editor, Canadian Mineralogist | |
| 1998-2006 | Member of Council, Mineralogical Association of Canada | |
| 1999-2000 | Lecture Program Committee, Mineralogical Society of America | |
| 2001 | Chair, Lecture Program Committee, Mineralogical Society of America | |
| 2007-2008 | Chair, Crystallography Award Committee, Mineralogical Society of America | |
| 2001-present | Public Service Committee, Mineralogical Society of America | |
| 1999 | Editor, Mineralogical Society of America Reviews in Mineralogy "Uranium: Mineralogy, Geochemistry and the Environment" |
| 2007 | Thompson ISI top ten most highly cited geoscientists 1996-2007. Biographies in Who's Who in Science and Engineering, Who's Who in America, Who's Who in the Midwest, Who's Who Among America's Teachers, Who's Who in the World, etc. |
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| 2003 | Mineral burn site named by a group of Russian and Canadian scientists | |
| 2001 | MSA Award and Life Fellow of the Mineralogical Society of America | |
| 1999 | Donath Medal of the Geological Society of America | |
| 1998 | Young Scientist Medal of the Mineralogical Association of Canada | |
| 1997 | Hawley Medal (best paper award) of the Mineralogical Association of Canada | |
| 1995 | Elected Life Member of Clare Hall College, University of Cambridge | |
| 1994 | Winthrop Spencer Gold Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Geological Sciences | |
| 1994 | Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Post Doctoral Fellowship | |
| 1994 | International Centre for Diffraction Data Crystallography Scholarship 1994 | |
| 1994 | Mineralogical Society of America Biennial Grant for Research in Crystallography | |
| 1994 | Elected Research Fellow of Clare Hall, University of Cambridge | |
| 1993 | International Centre for Diffraction Data Crystallography Scholarship 1993 | |
| 1992 | The J.L. Lightcap Award for Highest Standing in U. of M. Ph.D. Program | |
| 1992 | University of Manitoba Graduate Fellowship | |
| 1988-92 | Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Graduate Scholarship. | |
| 1991 | Dr. George Brownell Memorial Prize for Highest Standing in Geological Sciences | |
| 1991 | Geological Association Graduate Seminar Prize | |
| 1991 | Sigma Xi Student Award for Excellence in Research | |
| 1988 | U. W. O. Special Entrance Scholarship | |
| 1987 | Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy Earth Science Scholarship | |
| 1987 | Tom and Parker Hickey Memorial Scholarship | |
| 1987 | Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Student Research Assist. | |
| 1987 | The Wood Scholarship | |
| 1986 | Fredericton MAC-GAC 1985 Scholarship | |
| 1986 | U. N. B. Alumni Undergraduate Scholarship | |
| 1986 | Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Student Research Assist. | |
| 1986 | Tom and Parker Hickey Memorial Scholarship |
Sigmon, G.E., Ling, J., Unruh, D.K., Moore-Shay, L., Ward, M., Weaver, B. & Burns, P.C.: Uranyl-peroxide interactions favor nano-cluster self-assembly. Journal of the American Chemical Society 131, 16648-16649.
Sigmon, G.E., Weaver, B., Kubatko, K.A. & Burns, P.C. (2009): Crown and bowl-shaped clusters of uranyl polyhedra. Inorganic Chemistry 48, 10907-10909.
Gorman-Lewis, D., Shvareva, T., Kubatko, K.A., Burns, P.C., Wellman, D.M., McNamara, B., Szymanowski, J.E.S., Navrotsky, A. & Fein, J.B. (2009): Thermodynamic properties of autunite, uranyl hydrogen phosphate, and uranyl orthophosphate from solubility and calorimetric measurements. Environmental Science and Technology 43, 7416-7422.
Sigmon, G., Unruh, D.K., Ling, J., Weaver, B., Ward, M., Pressprich, L., Simonetti, A. & Burns, P.C. (2009): Symmetry vs. minimal pentagonal adjacencies in uranium-based polyoxometalate fullerene topologies. Angewandte Chemie International Edition 48, 2737-2740. Highlighted in Nature March 20, 2009.
Unruh, D., Burtner, A. & Burns, P.C. (2009): Monodentate peroxide coordination in trimers of U6+ polyhedra. Inorganic Chemistry 48, 2346-2348.
Schindler, M., Freund, M., Hawthorne, F.C., Burns, P.C. and Maurice, P.A. (2009): Dissolution of uranophane: An AFM, XPS, SEM and ICP study. Ge ochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 73, 2510-2533.
Schindler, M., Hawthorne, F.C., Freund, M.S. and Burns, P.C. (2009): XPS spectra of uranyl-minerals and synthetic uranyl compounds II. The O 1s spectrum. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 73, 2488-2509.
Schindler, M., Hawthorne, F.C., Freund, M.S. & Burns, P.C. (2009): XPS spectra of uranyl minerals and synthetic uranyl compounds I. The U 4f spectrum. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 73, 2471-2487.
Fax: 574-631-9236
Email: pburns(at)nd.edu
Daniel Unruh
Jessica Beard
Amanda Albrecht
Christine Wallace
Miller Wylie
Enrica Balboni
Kristi Pellegrini
Christian Lipp
Zuolei Liao
Laurent Jouffret
Jie Qiu
Mineral Optics