Gem News International Gems & Gemology, Spring 2020, Vol. 56, No. 1

Dutrowite: New Mineral Species of Tourmaline

GIA Staff

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Barbara Dutrow (left) and a sample of brown dutrowite tourmaline (right).
 
Left: Professor Barbara Dutrow has been honored with the naming of the new mineral dutrowite. Photo by Kevin Schumacher. Right: Sample of dutrowite (brown) and dravite (blue) tourmalines in meta-rhyolite from Italy. Courtesy of Cristian Biagioni.

A newly discovered mineral species of the tourmaline group has been named in honor of Dr. Barbara Dutrow (see above, left). Dutrowite (above, right) was discovered in the Apuan Alps of Tuscany, Italy, and has been recognized by the International Mineralogical Association. The Austrian, Italian, and Swedish researchers who discovered the mineral named it in recognition of Dr. Dutrow’s teaching and research contributions, particularly on tourmaline and its formation. She is the Gerald Cire and Lena Grand Williams Alumni Professor in the Department of Geology and Geophysics at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. In 2007, she was a coauthor of the 23rd edition of Manual of Mineral Science, a standard reference textbook for the study of minerals. Since 2016, Dr. Dutrow has served on the GIA Board of Governors.