Galina Palyanova, Ph.D, is a leading scientist at the V.S. Sobolev Institute of Geology and Mineralogy of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences and a lecturer at the Department of Mineralogy and Geochemistry of Novosibirsk State University. She graduated from the Novosibirsk State University with a degree in geochemistry. Her main area of research is ore mineralogy, as well as the thermodynamic and experimental modeling of ore-forming processes. She has published over 90 research articles in international journals. Her monograph “Physical and chemical features of the behavior of gold and silver in the processes of hydrothermal ore formation” was awarded a medal and a diploma by the Russian Mineralogical Society. She was awarded medals by the Russian Ministry of Higher Education and the Russian Academy of Sciences and an honorary diploma by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Energy Resources for her great contribution to the development of the Mineral Resource Base of Russia. The most recent direction taken in her research is ore minerals in agates and their genesis.