Kerstin A. Lehnert

Kerstin Lehnert is Doherty Senior Research Scientist at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University and Director of the Geoinformatics Research Group. Kerstin's work centers on the development and operation of community-driven data infrastructure for the Earth and space sciences and, in particular, on using cyberinfrastructure to improve access and sharing of data generated by the study of physical samples. Kerstin leads the IEDA data facility that operates data services for sample-based data, specifically data systems for geochemistry and petrology including EarthChem and the Library for Experimental Phase Relations (NSF funded); the Astromaterials Data System (NASA funded); and the System for Earth Sample Registration (NSF funded). Kerstin is currently member of the NOAA Science Advisory Board's Data Archive & Access Requirements Working Group and of the Science Advisory Board of the Distributed Information System for Scientific Collections DISSCo. She has been a member of the NASEM Division Committee for the Gulf Research Program;  chair of the EarthCube Council of Data Facilities; President of the IGSN e.V., member of the NSF Advisory Committee for Cyberinfrastructure; member of the Board of Directors of the American Geophysical Union AGU; and President of the AGU Earth and Space Science Informatics Focus Group. 

Fields of Interest

Research data management in the Earth and space sciences; cyberinfrastructure for material samples ("Internet of Samples")

Education

  • 1989 Doctrix rer. nat., Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg i. Breisgau, Germany.
  • 1979 Diplom-Mineralogin (“Mit Auszeichnung” – with distinction, 1979), Technische Universität Braunschweig, Germany.

Honors & Awards

  • Doris-Schachner-Medaille of the Deutsche Mineralogische Gesellschaft (German Mineralogical Society)
  • Ian McHarg Medal of the European Geoscience Union 2018
  • Outstanding Contributions to Geoinformatics Award of the Geological Society of America, 2017
  • Distinguished Service Award of the Geochemical Society, 2013

KLÖCKING, M., WYBORN, L., LEHNERT, K.A., WARE, B., PRENT, A. M., PROFETA, L., KOHLMANN, F.  et al. "Community recommendations for geochemical data, services and analytical capabilities in the 21st century." Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (2023). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2023.04.024

MA, X., RALPH, J., ZHANG, J., QUE, X., PRABHU, A., MORRISON, S.M., HAZEN, R. M., WYBORN, L., LEHNERT, K. "OpenMindat: Open and FAIR mineralogy data from the Mindat database." Geoscience Data Journal (2023). https://doi.org/10.1002/gdj3.204

KLUMP, J., FILS, D., DEVARAJU, A., RAMDEEN, S., ROBERTSON, J., WYBORN, L. and LEHNERT, K.  Scaling Identifiers and their Metadata to Gigascale: An Architecture to Tackle the Challenges of Volume and Variety. Data Science Journal, 22, pp.5-5. (2023)

CHAMBERLAIN, K.J., LEHNERT, K.A., MCINTOSH, I.M. et al. Time to change the data culture in geochemistry. Nat Rev Earth Environ 2, 737–739 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-021-00237-w

DAVIES, N., DECK, J., KANSA, E. C., WHITCHER KANSA, S., KUNZE, J., MEYER, C., ORRELL, T., RAMDEEN, S., SNYDER, R., VIEGLAIS, D., WALLS, R., & LEHNERT, K., Internet of Samples (iSamples): Toward an interdisciplinary cyberinfrastructure for material samples, GigaScience, Volume 10, Issue 5, May 2021, giab028, https://doi.org/10.1093/gigascience/giab028

KLUMP, J., LEHNERT, K., ULBRICHT, D., DEVARAJU, A., ELGER, K., FLEISCHER, D. et al.. “Towards Globally Unique Identification of Physical Samples: Governance and Technical Implementation of the IGSN Global Sample Number.” Data Science Journal. 2021;20(1):33. DOI: http://doi.org/10.5334/dsj-2021-033

BRANTLEY, S. L., WEN, T., AGARWAL, D. A., CATALANO, J. G., SCHROEDER, P. A., LEHNERT, K., VARADHARAJAN, C., et al. "The future low-temperature geochemical data-scape as envisioned by the US geochemical community." Computers & Geosciences 157 (2021): 104933.

HORSBURGH, J. S., HOOPER, R. P., BALES, J., HEDSTROM, M., IMKER, H. J., LEHNERT, K. A., SHANLEY, L. A., STALL, S. (2020), “Assessing the state of research data publication in hydrology: A perspective from the Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Incorporated.” Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Water, e1422, https://doi.org/10.1002/wat2.1422

STALL, S., YARMEY, L., CUTCHER-GERSHENFELD, J., HANSON, B., LEHNERT, K., NOSEK, B., PARSINS, M., ROBINSON, E., WYBORN, L. (2019), “Make scientific data FAIR.” Nature, 570(7759):27-29. doi: 10.1038/d41586-019-01720-7.

STALL, S., YARMEY, BOEHM, L. COUSIJN, H., CRUSE, P., CUTCHER-GERSHENFELD, J., DASLER, R., DE WAARD, A., DUERR, R., ELGER, K., FENNER, M., GLAVES, H., HANSON, B. HAUSMAN, J. HEBER, J., HILLS, D., HOEBELHEINRICH, N., HoOU, S., KINKADE, D., KOSKELA, R., MARTIN, R., LEHNERT, K., MURPHY, F., NOSEK, B., PARSONS, M. A., PETTERS, J., PLANTE, R., ROBINSON, E. SAMORS, R., SERVILLA, M., ULRICH, R., WITT, M., WYBORN, L. (2018), "Advancing FAIR Data in Earth, Space, and Environmental Science." EOS, 99, https://doi.org/10.1029/2018EO109301.

STALL, S., ROBINSON, E., WYBORN, L., YARMEY, L. R., PARSONS, M. A., LEHNERT, K., CUTCHER-GERSHENFELD, J. NOSEK, B., HANSON, B. (2017), “Enabling FAIR data across the Earth and space sciences.” Eos, 98, https://doi.org/10.1029/2017EO088425.

HSU, L., MAYORGA, E., HORSBURGH, J.S., CARTER, M., LEHNERT, K., BRANTLEY, S. (2016), “Enhancing Interoperability and Capabilities of Earth Science Data using the Observations Data Model 2 (ODM2).” Data Science Journal. 16, p.4. DOI: http://doi.org/10.5334/dsj-2017-004

McNUTT, M., LEHNERT, K. A., HANSON, B., NOSEK, B., ELLISON, A.M., King, J.L. (2016), “Liberating field science samples and data.” Science, volume 351, 1024-1026.

HORSBURGH, J. S., AUFDENKAMPE, A. K., MAYORGA, E., LEHNERT, K. A., HSU, L., SONG, L., JONES, A. S., DAMIANO, S. G., TARBORTON, D. G., VALENTINE, D., ZASLAVSKY, I., WHITENACK, T. (2016), “Observations Data Model 2: A community information model for spatially discrete Earth observations”, Environmental Modelling & Software, volume 79, 55–74.

HSU, L., LEHNERT, K. A., GOODWILLIE, A., DELANO, J.W., GILL, J.B., TIVEY, M.A., FERRINI, V.L., CARBOTTE, S.M., ARKO R.A. (2015), “Rescue of long-tail data from the ocean bottom to the Moon: IEDA Data Rescue Mini-Awards”, GeoResJ, vol. 6, 108-114.

HANSON, B., LEHNERT, K. A., CUTCHER-GERSHENFELD, J. (2015), “Committing to publishing data in the Earth and space sciences”, Eos, 96,doi:10.1029/2015EO022207.

NIU, X. Z., WILLIAMS, J. Z., MILLER, D., LEHNERT, K., BILLS, B., & BRANTLEY, S. L. (2014), “An Ontology Driven Relational Geochemical Database for the Earth's Critical Zone: CZchemDB”. Journal of Environmental informatics, 23(2), 10-23.

BOLUKBASI, B., BERENTE, N., CUTCHER-GERSHENFELD, J., DECHURCH, L., FLINT, C., HABERMAN, M., KING, J. L., KNIGHT, E., LAWRENCE, B., MASELLA, E., MCELROY, C., MITTLEMAN, B., NOLAN, M., RADIK, M., SHIN, N., THOMPSON, C. A., WINTER, S., ZASLAVSKY, I., ALLISON, M. L., ARCTUR, D., ARRIGO, J., AUFDENKAMPE, A. K., BASS, J., CROWELL, J., DANIELS, M., DIGGS, S., DUFFY, C., GIL, Y., GOMEZ, B., GRAVES, S., HAZEN, R., HSU, L., KINKADE, D., LEHNERT, K., MARONE, C., MIDDLETON, D., NOREN, A., PEARTHREE, G., RAMAMURTHY, M., ROBINSON, E., PERCIVALL, G., RICHARD, S., SUAREZ, C., WALKER, D. (2013), "Open Data: Crediting a Culture of Cooperation." Science. 342. (2013): 1041-1042.

NIU, X., LEHNERT, K. A., WILLIAMS, J., BRANTLEY, S. L. (2011), “CZChemDB and EarthChem: Advancing management and access of critical zone geochemical data”, Applied Geochemistry, 26, Suppl. 1, S108-S111.

GOLDSTEIN, S. L., SOFFER, G., LANGMUIR, C.H., LEHNERT, K. A., GRAHAM, D. W., MICHAEL, P. J. (2008), “Origin of a ‘Southern Hemisphere’ geochemical signature in the Arctic upper mantle”, Nature, 453, 89-93.

MICHAEL, P.J., LANGMUIR, C.H., DICK, H. J. B. , SNOW, J. E., GOLDSTEIN, S. L., GRAHAM, D. W., LEHNERT, K., KURRAS, G., JOKAT, W., MÜHE, R., EDMONDS, H. N. (2003), “Magmatic and amagmatic seafloor generation at the ultraslow-spreading Gakkel ridge, Arctic Ocean”, Nature, 423, 956-961.

STAUDIGEL, H., HELLY, J., KOPPERS, A.P., SHAW, H., McDONOUGH, W., HOFMANN, A.W., LANGMUIR, C.H., LEHNERT, K., SARBAS, B., DERRY, L., ZINDLER, A. (2003), “Electronic data publication in geochemistry.” G3, Volume 4.

LEHNERT, K.A., SU, Y., LANGMUIR, C.H., SARBAS, B., NOHL, U. (2000), "A global geochemical database structure for rocks", G3, Vol.1.