Meet
our team
The Point Two Gram was founded out of a passion to make diamond-related research accessible to the public and those with a sparkling interest in gem science
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The Point Two Gram is run by Karen and Janina. They are both professional PhD-level geoscientists working in diamonds and related research fields. Combined they have more than two decades of experience in diamond research.
Janina and Karen met during grad school in 2012. They have since moved to different corners of the globe, and continue to collaborate on various projects.
We hope that you'll enjoy learning about the fascinating world of diamonds with us.
Get in touch!
Dr Karen Smit obtained her PhD in Geology from the University of Alberta in 2013. Since then she has been working as a research scientist investigating the origin of the cratonic mantle and diamonds. Karen founded The Point Two Gram in 2019, starting with Instagram posts, in an effort to make exciting diamond research more accessible to the public and diamond trade. See her full CV here.
Dr Janina Czas earned her PhD in Geology in 2018 from the University of Alberta. She is currently postdoctoral fellow at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, where she studies the origin of fluids in natural diamonds. Janina joined The Point Two Gram in 2020, when during lockdown she became interested in starting a podcast around diamond geology. See her full CV here.
Other contributors
Dr Evan is an occasional contributor about natural diamond research and why diamonds are the best samples to use if you want to study the deep Earth. He has a PhD in Geology, and works as a research scientist.
Dr 'Fancy Carat' is an occasional contributor about research related to the growth of synthetic diamonds for various interesting applications. They have a PhD in diamond defects, and work as a professional in the diamond industry.
Dr Clo is an occasional contributor about the impurities and defects that cause colour in all types of diamonds. She has a PhD in the theory of defects in diamond, and continues these theoretical investigations in her work as research scientist.