Larry Meinert is Scientist Emeritus at the U.S. Geological Survey where he was Deputy Associate Director for Energy & Mineral Resources. Previously he served in the United States Congress as an AAAS Congressional Fellow staffing the Senate Energy and Natural Resource Committee and the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee. Prior to that he had a successful academic career spanning three different universities where he managed research laboratories and advised dozens of postdoctoral scientists and Ph.D., M.S., and B.S. students engaged in cutting edge mineral resource research, funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and private industry. He has worked as a consultant for major mining companies in more than 50 countries and has been to most corners of the planet. He is available to visit other planets when feasible! He has an active research program with > 200 peer-reviewed publications and is chief editor of the leading international scientific journal in this field, Economic Geology. He earned a Ph.D. degree in geology from Stanford University and B.A. from Carleton College. In his spare time he operates a small home winery specializing in a barrel-fermented Bordeaux blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenere, and Malbec. He has run the Boston Marathon several times and has completed all the major military marathons, including the Marine Corps Marathon (finishing ahead of several Marines considerably younger than him).