One of the biggest existential questions for humanity is: “How did life on Earth begin?” Marilyn Fogel, a pioneer in the field of biogeochemistry, used isotopes to try to answer that question and many others related to Earth’s biogeochemical history. Fogel died at her home in Mariposa, California, on May 11 at the age of 69, reports The Washington Post. Her husband, Chris Swarth, tells the Post that she died of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
“Driven by her deep curiosity about nature, she fearlessly pursued new knowledge by developing novel methods to probe isotopic and geochemical phenomena across a broad range of disciplines,” Eric D. Isaacs, president of the Carnegie Institution for Science, says in an announcement about Fogel’s death.
Fogel was born on September 19, 1952, in Camden, New Jersey, the Post reports. Growing up in nearby Moorestown, Fogel became fascinated with science ...
