Kristín Vala Ragnarsdóttir (born 1954) is an Icelandic Earth and sustainability scientist and activist who is Professor of Sustainability Science in the Faculty of Earth SciencesUniversity of Iceland Earth Sciences. and the Institute of Earth SciencesHáskóli Íslands. Institute of Earth Sciences. at the University of Iceland. She was the first woman to be a full professor in Earth Sciences at the University of Bristol in the UKFaculty of Science, University of Bristol. and at the same time the first woman to become a full professor in the Science Faculty there. She was also the first woman to serve as Dean of a School at the University of Iceland.Mbl.is. (10 September 2008). Fjórir karlar, ein kona. Háskóli Íslands kynnir forseta fræðasviða. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
Kristín Vala is a member of Academia Europaea (since 2012), the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, and the Icelandic Academy of Science.Vísindafélag Íslands. Retrieved 14 April 2020. She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, distinguished fellow of the Schumacher Institute,The Schumacher Institute. Distinguished Fellows . Retrieved 14 April 2020. and a member of the Wellbeing Economy Alliance.Wellbeing Economy Alliance. We all Iceland. Retrieved 14 April 2020. She is a member of the sustainability think tanks the Balaton GroupBalaton Group. Retrieved 14 April 2020. and the Club of Rome.University of Iceland. (2015). Icelandic Professor accepted to the Club of Rome. Retrieved 14 April 2020.ORCID.
Career Appointments Kristín Vala was on the faculty of the University of Bristol for 20 years from 1989, starting as a research fellow in the Department of Geology, becoming professor of Environmental Geochemistry in the Department of Earth Sciences in 2001 and professor of Environmental Sustainability from 2006 to 2008. She moved to the University of Iceland as Professor of Sustainability Science in the Faculty of Earth Sciences in 2008, and was Dean of the School of Engineering and Natural Sciences from 2008 to 2012.
Board memberships Kristín Vala was a board member of the Geological Society of London the European Association of Geochemistry,European Association of Geochemistry. EAG Personnel Archives for 2010. Retrieved 14 April 2020. and the Schumacher Society (now Schumacher InstituteThe Schumacher Institute. Retrieved 14 April 2020.). She was a member of the steering committee of the Balaton Group, and the Alliance for Sustainability and Prosperity (ASAP).Alliance for Sustainability and Prosperity. Retrieved 14 April 2020. She was also on the board/steering group of TreeSisters,treesisters. Retrieved 14 April 2020. Pyramid2030, 17Goals, 17 Goals. Retrieved 14 April 2020. Health Empowernment Through Nutrition,[Health Empowernment Through Nutrition Health Empowerment Through Nutrition]. Retrieved 14 April 2020. Framtíðarlandið (FutureIceland),Future Iceland with Nature. Board Committee and Panel of Experts. Retrieved 14 April 2020. Initiative for Equality,Initiative for Equality. Retrieved 14 April 2020. Landvernd (Nature Protection)Landvernd. Retrieved 14 April 2020. and Landsvirkjun (National Energy).Landsvirkjun. National Power Company of Iceland. Board of Directors. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
Kristín Vala is a scientific advisor to the Ecological Sequestration Trust, serves on the global council of Wellbeing Economy Alliance (WEAll) and is a board member of Breiddalssetur Science and Culture Centre, and the Red Cross.
Editorial memberships Kristín Vala was a member of the editorial boards of eEarth,eEarth. An Interactive Open Access Journal of the Earth Sciences. E.Earth (eE). Editor. Retrieved 14 April 2020. Geochemical Transactions,Geochemical Transactions. Retrieved 14 April 2020. Geochimica et Cosmochimice ActaGeochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. Retrieved 14 April 2020. and Chemical Geology.Chemical Geology. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
Currently, she is a member of the editorial boards of Anthropocene Review,The Anthropocene Review. Editorial Board. Retrieved 14 April 2020. System Change,System Change. Retrieved 14 April 2020. BioPhysical Economics and SustainabilityBiophysical Economics and Sustainability. Editors. Retrieved 14 April 2020. (previously BioPhysical Economics and Resource Quality), and SolutionsSolutions. Editorial Board. Retrieved 14 April 2020 (for a Sustainable and Desirable Future).
Background Training Kristín Vala trained in geochemistry and petrology at the University of Iceland and geological sciences at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois.
Awards Kristín Vala received the Award of Excellence Furthering Sustainability and Equality Learning from the Schumacher Institute. She was co-recipient of the Times Higher Education Supplement (THES) Award to the University of Bristol for Outstanding Contribution to Sustainable Development.University of Bristol. (2007). University shortlisted twice in Times Higher Awards. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
Expert member panels Kristín Vala was a member of the UN Environment Program Depleted Uranium Scientific Assessment Teams, Kosovo (2000)United Nations Environment Programme. Depleted Uranium in Kosovo. Post-Conflict Environmental Assessment . Retrieved 14 April 2020. and Bosnia Herzegovina (2002).United Nations Environment Programme. Depleted Uranium in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Post-Conflict Environmental Assessment. Retrieved 14 April 2020. She was a member of the International Expert Working Group of the Government of Bhutan on the New Development Paradigm (2013) and represented Academia Europaea in the European Academies Scientific Advisory Council (EASAC) working group on the Circular Economy (2016).easac. European Academies. Science Advisory Council. (2016) Circular Economy: Indicators and Priorities for Critical Materials. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
In Iceland, Kristín Vala has advised the government on issues relating to higher education and research, education for sustainability, climate strategy, prosperity, quality of life and wellbeing, and energy policy.Stjórnarráð Íslands. Loftslagsráð. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
Research During her career, Kristín Vala has published over 100 research articles, book chapters, and books and has been awarded prizes and memberships/fellowships by academies and sustainability think tanks.Google Scholar. Kristin Vala Ragnarsdottir.
Among many other topics, Kristín Vala has published work on geothermal systems,Ragnarsdottir K.V., Walther J.V. and Arnorsson S. (1984). Description and interpretation of the composition of fluid and alteration mineralogy in the Svartsengi geothermal system, Iceland. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 48, 1535-1553. mineral solubility,Ragnarsdottir K.V. and Walther J.V. (1985) Experimental determination of corundum solubilities in pure water between 400-700oC and 1- 3 kbar. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 49, 2109-2115.Valsami-Jones E., Ragnarsdottir K.V., Putnis A., Bosbach D., Kemp A.J. and Cressey G. (1998) The dissolution of apatite in the presence of metal cations in acidic solutions. Chemical Geology 151, 215-234. mineral dissolution kinetics,Ragnarsdottir K.V. (1993) Dissolution kinetics of heulandite at pH 2-12 and 25oC. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 57, 2439-2449. structure and coordination of aqueous species,Ragnarsdottir K.V., Oelkers E.H., Sherman D.M. and Collins C.R. (1998) Aqueous speciation of yttrium at temperatures from 25 to 240oC at Psat: An in-situ EXAFS study. Chemical Geology 151, 29-40. sorption of aqueous species to mineral surfaces,Randall S.R., Sherman D.M., Ragnarsdottir, K.V. and Collins, C.R. (1999) The mechanism of cadmium surface complexation on iron oxyhydroxide minerals. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 63, 2971-2987. backfill materials for radioactive waste disposal,Wilson J., Savage D., Cuadros J., Shibata M. and Ragnarsdottir K.V. (2006) effect of iron on bentonite stability I. Background and thermodynamic considerations. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 70, 306-322.Walker C.S., Savage D., Tyrer M. and Ragnarsdottir K.V. (2007). Non-ideal solid solutions aqueous solution modelling of synthetic calcium silicate hydrate. Cement and Concrete Research 27, 502-511. link between environment and health,Büchl A., C.J., Hawkesworth C.J., Ragnarsdottir K.V. and Brown D.R. (2008) Re-partitioning of Cu and Zn isotopes by modified protein expression. Geochemical Transactions, 9, 11. bacterial and fungal weathering,Saccone L., Gazze S.A., Duran A.L., Leake J.R., Banwart S.A., Ragnarsdóttir K.V., Smits M.S. and McMaster T.J. (2012) High resolution characterization of ectomycorrhizal fungal-mineral interactions in axenic microcosm experiments. Biochemistry, 111, 411-425.Ward M.B., Katutulcinova D., Brown A.P., Heard P.J., Cherns D.C., Cockell C.S., Hallam K.R. and Ragnarsdottir K. V. (2013) Investigating the role of microbes in mineral weathering: Nanometre-scale characterization of the cell-mineral interface using FIB and TEM. Micron, 47, 10-17. and critical zone processes.Brantley S.A., Goldhaber M. and Ragnarsdottir K.V. (2007) Crossing disciplines and scales to understand the critical zone. Elements, 3, 307-314.
At the turn of the century, Kristín Vala's research turned to issues related to transdisciplinary sustainability science, including city carbon emission management,Bailey R., Longhurst J.W.S., Hayes E.T., Ragnarsdottir K.V., Hudson L. and Thumin J. (2011) Envisioning the Future: A methodology for city-scale carbon management. International Journal for Climate Change: Impacts and Responses, 2, 51-56. natural resource availability and management,Ragnarsdottir K.V. (2008) Rare metals getting rarer. Nature Geoscience 1, 720-721.Sverdrup H.U. and Ragnarsdottir K.V. (2014) Natural resources in a planetary perspective. Geochemical Perspectives 3(2), 129-341. soil sustainability,Jonsson J.O.G., Davidsdottir B., Jonsdottir E.M., Kristinsdottir S.M. and Ragnarsdottir K.V. (2017). Soil indicators for sustainable development: A transdisciplinary approach for indicator development using expert stakeholders. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 232, 179-189. sustainable tourism,Kristjansdottir K.R., Olafsdottir R. and Ragnarsdottir K.V. (2017) Stakeholder participation in developing sustainability indicators for a European Northern Periphery Tourism system. Journal of Rural and Community Development, 12(2-3), 210-235. and achieving the UN Sustainability Goals through the wellbeing economy.Ragnarsdottir K.V., Costanza R., Giovannini E., Kubiszewski I., Lovins H., McGlade J., Pickitt K.E., Roberts D., de Vogli R., and Wilkinson R. (2014) Beyond GDP. Exploring the hidden links between geology, economics and well-being. Geoscientist, 24(9), 12-17.Costanza R., Kubiszewski I., Giovannini E., Lovins H., McGlade J., Pickett K.W., Ragnarsdottir K.V., Roberts D., de Vogli R. and Wilkinson R. (2014) Development: Time to leave GPD behind. Nature, 505, 282-285, 16 January.Costanza R., Daly L., Fioramonti L., Giovannini E., Kubiszewski I., Mortensen R.F., Pickett K.E., Ragnarsdottir K.V., de Vogli R. and Richard Wilkinson. (2016) Measuring sustainable wellbeing in connection with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Ecological Economics, 130, 350-555.
Politics Kristín Vala is a member of the Pirate Party and has been influential in developing its policies relating to environment, climate, and sustainability. She was instrumental in facilitating the participation of the Icelandic government in joining the Wellbeing Economy Governments (WEGo).Scottish Government. [Wellbeing Economy Governments (WEGo)]. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
Selected bibliography Books Ragnarsdottir K.V. and Banwart S.A. (editors) (2016) Soil: The Life Supporting Skin on Earth. eBook University of Iceland and University of Sheffield. Plant J.A., Voulvoulis N. and Ragnarsdottir K.V. (editors) (2011) Pollutants, Human Health and the Environment. A Risk Approach. Wiley Blackwell, 356 pages.