Peter Westbroeck

(The Hague, Netherlands, 1937)

Professor of Geophysiology at Leiden University. He studied Geology at Leiden University where he completed his doctorate cum laude in 1967 with Professor A. Brower. His thesis dealt with the morphology and evolution of Devonian brachiopods. He used his observations on living organisms in an original way to
interpret fossils and dynamic biological systems. He received a scholarship from the Dutch National Science Foundation to study biochemistry at the Department of Biochemistry at Queen's University in Belfast. There he began, together with AG Lloyd and Sir A. Williams, his “geobiochemical” research on biomineralization. He continued this line of research after his return to Leiden in the Paleobiochemistry group of the Geology department. Later, this group was expanded with geo-immunological research and moved to the Department of Biochemistry of which he was Director. He has been a pioneer of carbonate chemistry. The innovative approach of this new scientific area contributed to delving into the complex interactions between the geosphere and the biosphere.

He participated in Medialab Madrid banquete05 in “Bio-geophysical bases of communication. ACTS Symposium_communication in evolution” (January 19, 2005) as a speaker with “Is Gaia capable of learning, of thinking?”