Robert Downs

Please note I am not taking students any longer.

Research Interests

Mineralogy, crystallography, digital databases

Awards and Recognitions

• American Federation of Mineralogical Societies Scholarship, 1990 – 1992

• International Union of Crystallography Young Scientist Award, 1992

• Leonard G. Berry Medal, The Mineralogical Association of Canada, 2002

• Fellow of the Mineralogical Society of America, 2002

• Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, AAAS, 2009

• Tait K T, Barkley M C, Thompson R M, Origlieri M J, Evans S H, Prewitt C T, Yang H (2011) Bobdownsite, a new mineral species from Big Fish River, Yukon, Canada, and its structural relationship with whitlockite-type compounds. The Canadian Mineralogist 49, 1065-1078

• Cover of Science, September 27, 2013, vol 341

• Cover of Science, January 24, 2014, vol 343

• Invited participant in the International Year of Crystallography, UNESCO, Paris, France, 20-21 January, 2014

• In celebration of 100 years of X-ray crystallography, designated one of the twenty-five greatest accomplishments in crystallography, Journal of Science, March 7, 2014, vol 343, p 1092-1093, along with Bragg, Rontgen, von Laue, Hodgkin, Franklin, and others

• Cover of Elements, February, 2015, vol 11, no. 1

• Cover of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, February 28, 2017, vol 114, no. 9

• Mineral named downsite, K2(MoO3)3(SO4)·4H2O, IMA 2022-119

• International Mineralogical Association presents the 2022 Mineral of the Year Award for the study of lazaraskeite

• Cover of Mineralogical Magazine, February 2023, vol 87, no 568

• Carnegie Mineralogical Award, 2023

• Cover of Science, April 18, 2025, vol 388