President of the Houston Museum of Natural Science, Joel A. Bartsch, has served the museum for over a decade. Ranked in the top 5 most heavily attended museums in the United States, Joel Bartsch received the 2004 Carnegie Medal for outstanding contributions to mineralogy.
Mineralogy studies organic minerals and minerals, homogeneous solids found in nature. Moreover, different branches of mineralogy exist, including crystallography. In crystallography, scientists examine the internal structure, relationships, and allocation of atoms, ions, or ionic groups within the crystal lattice or the forms in which minerals crystallize.
Environmental mineralogy analyzes the potential risks connected with certain minerals/elements or industries, if there are any, and best practices for use, recycling, and sustainable development. It describes the complicated and variable conditions of the origin of the minerals.
The study of a mineral's chemical composition in mineralogy is called chemical mineralogy. Scientists study the percentage contribution of various elements and other chemical characteristics of different minerals in this branch.
Finally, descriptive mineralogy involves grouping minerals according to their shared characteristics, primarily chemical and structural characteristics.
