Stephan Kaufhold, born in 1972, is a researcher and mineralogist at the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources. He studied at RWTH Aachen University, where he earned his PhD in 2001 with a dissertation on natural and acid-activated bentonites used as bleaching earths for vegetable oils. His work centers on bentonite clays, materials relevant both to industrial processing and to the design of barriers for radioactive waste storage. In 2024 he edited a reference volume on bentonites published by the BGR in Hannover.
Key facts
- Born: 1972
- Occupation: researcher; mineralogist
- Employer: Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources
- Education: RWTH Aachen University
Education and early research
Kaufhold completed his doctorate at RWTH Aachen University in 2001. His dissertation, titled “Untersuchungen zur Eignung von natürlich alterierten sowie mit Oxalsäure aktivierten Bentoniten als Bleicherden für Pflanzenöle,” examined how natural and oxalic-acid-activated bentonites perform as bleaching earths for vegetable oils, an industrial application for clay processing.
Career at the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources
Kaufhold works as a researcher and mineralogist at the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources, where his focus has shifted from the industrial bleaching-earth applications of his doctoral work toward the study of bentonites as barrier materials for radioactive waste storage.
Editing work
In 2024 Kaufhold edited “Bentonites: characterization, geology, mineralogy, analysis, mining, processing and uses,” published by the BGR in Hannover as Geologisches Jahrbuch, Reihe B, Regionale Geologie Ausland, Heft 106. The volume runs to 313 pages and gathers material on bentonite characterization, geology, mineralogy, analysis, mining, processing and uses into a single reference work.
Did you know
- Kaufhold’s 2001 doctoral dissertation at RWTH Aachen focused on bentonites as bleaching earths for vegetable oils, an industrial application distinct from his later work on radioactive-waste barriers. (cambridge.org)
- The bentonite reference volume he edited in 2024 runs to 313 pages and appeared in BGR’s Geologisches Jahrbuch series. (searchworks.stanford.edu)
Data sources
Where it appears
- Monkeys Who Lived Through an Outbreak Got Picky About Fake Poop November 8, 2026
Data updated: 2026-11-08