Reprint of: The 2011 Benjamin Franklin medal in earth and environmental science presented to Jillian F. Banfield

The Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania awards the 2011 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Earth and Environmental Science to Professor Jillian F. Banfield for her pioneering work in the fields of geochemistry and environmental microbiology, in particular her discoveries of the underlying principles of mineral formation and alteration by microbes and her efforts to advance the understanding of the form, composition, and distribution of minerals in the presence of living organisms.