The following questions are designed to help guide potential presenters toward areas that would be of greatest value to conference attendees. Participants wishing to submit abstracts for the conference are encouraged to address the questions presented below, which are grouped according to each of the six sessions.

Geology of Gem Deposits

What are the similarities and differences between natural gem formation and growth of gem materials in the laboratory?

What processes lead to the formation of minerals that are rare (and have gemological value in part because of their rarity)?

What processes lead to the formation of facetable crystals of minerals that are otherwise normally turbid and fine-grained, be they rare or common?

How can our understanding of plate tectonics and regional geology be used to find more gem deposits?

How does local deposit geology affect the physical and/or chemical properties of gems from specific localities?

How does local deposit geology affect the mining techniques used to successfully extract gem materials?

What new prospecting techniques hold promise for locating gem deposits?

Gem Characterization Techniques

What new developments in non-destructive analytical techniques can be applied to gem materials?

What are the capabilities and drawbacks for these techniques for gem analysis?

What is the availability of these techniques to researchers and gem lab technicians for analyzing gems?

What element standards need to be developed for the chemical analysis of gem materials?

What are the challenges associated with converting advanced technologies to simple “black boxes” that are useful to practicing gemologists?

What are the future prospects for the evolution of certain destructive techniques into quasi-nondestructive techniques that could be used to study gem materials?

New Gem Localities

What areas of the world offer the best potential for locating new gem deposits?

How do recently discovered localities compare with long-recognized gem occurrences, in terms of geology and the properties of the gems themselves?

How can researchers best stay informed of new gem discoveries worldwide?

How do new gem localities affect the services offered by gem labs (e.g., identifying new gem varieties such as pezzottaite, and establishing origin of gems such as cuprian elbaite)?

Laboratory Growth of Gem Materials

What new techniques have been developed to synthesize gem materials?

What are the distinctive gemological features these new synthetics?

Do conditions exist where gem synthesis and gem treatment merge?

How might the growth of advanced industrial materials be expected to influence the gem trade?

General Gemology (Including Pearls)

What techniques or instruments exist to quantify the color or appearance of gemstones or pearls?

How might gemologists collaborate with researchers from other disciplines to address future challenges?

What software applications are available for gemstone quality evaluations and appraisals?

Diamond and Corundum Treatments

What new treatment techniques are being used for these gem materials?

How might post-growth processes (coating, overgrowth, annealing, etc.) be used to create more realistic-looking synthetic diamonds or synthetic corundum?

What is the latest understanding on the coloring mechanisms of diamond and/or corundum, and how might these mechanisms be modified by treatment in the laboratory?