2015 Pinch Medal to Joe Marty 18 FEVRIER 2015 PRESS RELEASE The Mineralogical Association of Canada has awarded the 2015 Pinch Medal to Joe Marty at the Tucson and Mineral Show The Medal was presented to Joe at the Banquet of the Tucson and Gem Mineral Society on February 14. The Pinch Medal recognizes major and sustained contributions to the advancement of mineralogy by members of the collector-dealer community Joe Marty was born in 1945 and became interested in minerals as a college student when he began collecting lapidary material. Joe’s serious field-collecting career began in the Thomas Range, after he moved to Utah. His excursions eventually took him throughout much of the Western United States, but his most successful collecting activity focused on Utah, Colorado and California. Joe recently retired from the faculty of the Department of Pathology at the University of Utah where he taught hematopathology to a generation of pathology residents. As a medical technologist he studied crystals in joint effusions from patients with acute arthritis, thereby becoming skilled in identifying crystals in synovial fluid; that expertise readily transferred to mineralogy. Joe had the opportunity to examine crystalline specimens from the Hidden Treasure mine in the late 1980s, and this kindled his passion to study and photograph microminerals. As his expertise grew, Joe shared his knowledge of mineral occurrences through talks illustrated by photomicrographs of self-collected specimens. He has given lectures at many of the major mineral clubs in the United States and Canada. In recognition of his many contributions to the study of micro minerals, he was inducted into the Micromounters Hall of Fame in 2005. From left to right, MAC President Ron Peterson, presenting the 2015 Pinch Medal to Joe Marty at the Banquet of the Tucson and Gem Mineral Society on February 14, 2015 As an amateur mineralogist, Joe’s avid and productive field collecting and sharp eye for the unusual have led to notable scientific achievements. Joe discovered or participated in the discovery of an astonishing 44 new mineral species, and work continues on a number of others. He is also the co-author of the mineral descriptions on most of the species he discovered. As far as we can tell this must be a record number of new species for an amateur collector, and what is even more remarkable about half of these discoveries were made in the last two to three years. Joe has authored or co-authored numerous mineralogical articles. His self-collected specimens are represented in the collections of universities and major museums, many as the type specimens for the species he discovered. Joe’s recent work has added to our knowledge of vanadium and tellurium mineralogy (see references). He is engaged in an ongoing collaborative study of decavanadate species with a group of academic mineralogists. Martyite, a zinc vanadate, was named after Joe in recognition of his many contributions to mineralogy. Joe is a very skilled photographer of micro crystals and his photos appeared in numerous publications. Considering Joe’s incredible portfolio of achievements and sustained and very valuable contributions to the science of mineralogy, we have unreservedly and enthusiastically awarded him the 2015 Pinch Medal.