Preface to Bjørn Sundby’s Special Issue of Aquatic Geochemistry

Abstract

This special issue of Aquatic Geochemistry is dedicated to the career of Bjorn Sundby (Fig. 1), Professor of Oceanography at the ‘‘Institut des Sciences de la Mer de Rimouski,’’ Canada. Bjorn earned his PhD in physical organic chemistry from the University of Bergen (Norway) in 1966. He started his professional career as an organic chemist for the ColgatePalmolive Company, where he worked to develop novel phosphate-free detergents in the face of the looming eutrophication crisis. Exploring his diverse interests while at Colgate, Bjorn enrolled in oceanography classes at Rutgers University and fell in love with the subject. In pursuit of a career in Oceanography, he then moved to Dalhousie University in Halifax to take on a postdoctoral position with Doug Loring. During this time, he met his wife Daniele Godbout. Ultimately, Bjorn took up a position as an oceanography research associate at the Universite du Quebec a Rimouski from 1974 to 1980, before becoming Professor of Oceanography from 1980 to 1984. He then returned to Europe to head the Department of Chemical Oceanography and Marine Pollution at the Netherlands Institute for Sea Research from 1984 to 1987, before coming back to Canada as Director of the Physical and Chemical Oceanography Branch at the Maurice Lamontagne Institute, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Canada. With a mass of scientific achievements under his belt, Bjorn earned a prestigious Dr. Philos. Degree in aquatic geochemistry from the University of Bergen in 1987. From 1992 to his retirement in 2010, he was Professor of Oceanography at the Institut des Sciences de la Mer de Rimouski, QC. For nearly three decades, Bjorn has continued to challenge and change our view of sediment diagenesis, from the early models of a 1-dimensional steady-state system to our current picture of a 3D dynamic mosaic of biogeochemical reactions. One of his first major contributions was his work on manganese in the St. Lawrence Estuary. He was one of the