Robert Hazen received degrees in geology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. in earth science from Harvard University. A senior staff scientist at the Carnegie Institution’s Geophysical Laboratory, Hazen is also executive director of the Deep Carbon Observatory and author of numerous articles and books, including “The Story of Earth”. Hazen’s recent research focuses on possible roles of minerals in the origin of life, mineral evolution and the coevolution of the geosphere and biosphere.