John Michael Hayes (September 6, 1940 – February 3, 2017) was an American oceanographer. He worked at Indiana University Bloomington, and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Woods Hole, Massachusetts.

Education

Hayes was educated at Iowa State University graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

in 1962. He completed his postgraduate education in analytical chemistry at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

where he was awarded a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

in 1966 for analysis of organic constituents of terrestrial and extraterrestrial samples using

mass spectrometry Mass spectrometry (MS) is an analytical technique that is used to measure the mass-to-charge ratio of ions. The results are presented as a ''mass spectrum'', a plot of intensity as a function of the mass-to-charge ratio. Mass spectrometry is use ...

supervised by

Klaus Biemann Klaus Biemann (November 2, 1926 – June 2, 2016) was an Austrian-American professor of chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His work centered on structural analysis in organic and biochemistry. He has been called the "father ...

Career and research

Hayes made the first measurements of the distribution of the isotopes of carbon within

biolipid Lipids are a broad group of naturally-occurring molecules which includes fats, waxes, sterols, fat-soluble vitamins (such as vitamins A, D, E and K), monoglycerides, diglycerides, phospholipids, and others. The functions of lipids include s ...

s. This innovation provided a foundation for new studies of the pathways of carbon in natural environments, both modern and ancient. Because the production of

organic matter Organic matter, organic material, or natural organic matter refers to the large source of carbon-based compounds found within natural and engineered, terrestrial, and aquatic environments. It is matter composed of organic compounds that have c ...

requires concomitant production of oxygen or some other oxidized product, Hayes's studies of the carbon cycle bear strongly on the development of the global environment and provide evidence about the timing of evolutionary events such as the development of O₂-producing photosynthesis. For 26 years he was a professor in the departments of chemistry and geology at Indiana University Bloomington, then moved to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. During his career he has held academic appointments at Harvard University, the University of California, Los Angeles and the University of California, Berkeley.

Death

Hayes died on February 3, 2017, at his home in Berkeley, California, from pulmonary fibrosis at age 76.

Awards and honours

Hayes was elected a member of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

of the United States in 1998 and received the

Alfred E. Treibs Alfred E. Treibs (1899–1983) was a German organic chemist who is credited with founding the area of organic geochemistry. He received his PhD under Hans Fischer at the Technical University of Munich. Fischer had received the Nobel Prize in Che ...

Award and

V. M. Goldschmidt Award The V. M. Goldschmidt Award is an award given by the Geochemical Society at the V. M. Goldschmidt Conference for achievements in the fields of geochemistry and cosmochemistry. The award in honor of Victor Moritz Goldschmidt, a pioneer in both tho ...

from the Geochemical Society in 1998 and 2002, respectively. With

Geoffrey Eglinton Geoffrey Eglinton, FRS (1 November 1927 – 11 March 2016) was a British chemist and emeritus professor and senior research fellow in earth sciences at the University of Bristol. Education Eglinton was educated at Sale Grammar School and the Un ...

he was awarded the

Urey Medal The Urey Medal is given annually by the European Association of Geochemistry for outstanding contributions advancing Geochemistry over a career. The award is named after the physical chemist Harold Urey, FRS. Urey Medalists See also * List ...

from the

European Association for Geochemistry The European Association of Geochemistry (EAG) is a pan-European organization founded to promotes geochemical research. The EAG organizes conferences, meetings and educational courses for geochemists in Europe, including the Goldschmidt Conference w ...

in 1997. He was elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society (ForMemRS) in 2016. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from the royalsociety.org website where:

Tributes

Beginning in 2019, the Organic Geochemistry Division of the Geochemical Society is given an annual award in Hayes's name to a mid-career scientist for outstanding accomplishments that draw together multiple fields of investigation to advance biogeochemical science.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hayes, John Michael 1940 births 2017 deaths Foreign Members of the Royal Society Iowa State University alumni Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Science alumni Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Indiana University faculty Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution American geochemists Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Biogeochemists Mass spectrometrists Recipients of the V. M. Goldschmidt Award Scientists from Seattle