Rate My Professor Yuan Mei

Associate Professor Yuan Mei serves as an Adjunct Associate Professor in the School of Mathematics, Statistics, Chemistry and Physics at Murdoch University. She holds the position of Senior Research Scientist and leader of the Experimental and Computational Geochemistry Team at CSIRO Mineral Resources, where she has been employed since 2015. Her academic background includes a PhD in Geochemistry from the University of Adelaide awarded in 2014, followed by postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Adelaide from 2013 to 2015 and at Monash University from 2014 to 2015 on an ARC Discovery Project.

Mei's research focuses on molecular simulation and geochemical modelling to investigate the geochemistry of critical minerals for efficient exploration and processing, as well as carbon dioxide removal for net zero emissions. She examines mineral-fluid interactions at the molecular level, computes thermodynamic properties of metal complexation and acid dissociation in hydrothermal systems, and constructs geochemical models of element cycles in the lithosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and atmosphere, utilizing high-performance computing and in-situ synchrotron techniques. Notable publications include 'A review of the coordination chemistry of hydrothermal systems, or do coordination changes make ore deposits?' in Chemical Geology (2016), 'Gold remobilisation and formation of high grade ore shoots driven by dissolution-reprecipitation replacement and Ni substitution into auriferous arsenopyrite' in Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (2016), 'Zinc complexation in chloride-rich hydrothermal fluids (25–600 °C): A thermodynamic model derived from ab initio molecular dynamics' in Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (2015), and 'The role of fluorine in hydrothermal mobilization and transportation of Fe, U and REE and the formation of IOCG deposits' in Chemical Geology (2019). Her contributions include thermodynamic properties integrated into standard geochemical modelling databases. Mei has earned the CSIRO Ruby Payne-Scott Career Development Award (2023), CMR Best Paper Award (2023), ResearchPlus CSIRO Early Research Career Postdoctoral Fellowship (2021-2024), Julius Career Award (2020), and Jin-Jingfu Memorial Lectureship from the International Association of GeoChemistry (2022). She has acted as lead guest editor for Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (2020-2022), academic editor for Geofluids (2018-2023), and served on CSIRO's Diversity and Inclusion committee (2019-2023) and Pawsey Supercomputing Centre's merit allocation committee (2016-2021).