Catherine Skinner has been a member of two Yale faculties for many years. Her focus has always been on minerals, and today on ‘ biominerals’ such as the hydroxylapatite in bones and teeth. She came to Yale from the National Institutes of Health and her recent research is on the bio-composition of skeletons both modern humans and animal and fossils, and the incorporation of essential as well as pathologic elements/compounds. The roles of waters are essential to the generation and preservation of such tissues in all species, and reflect local as well as global inputs and issues over time on the individual and on the species.