Javier Cuadros is a senior researcher at the Natural History Museum in London, UK. He graduated in Chemistry from the University of Malaga and earned a Ph.D. from the University of Granada. He was a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (1994-1996) and at Estación Experimental del Zaidín (CSIC) in Granada (1996-2000), then joined the Natural History Museum as a Researcher in 2000. He investigates clay geochemistry and processes in all environments. Particular aspects of his present research include clay on Mars, clay-life interaction, past environments as recorded by clays, mechanisms of clay processes, and the crystal chemistry of clays.