Members of my group and I have spent five days at the Goldschmidt 2026 conference.It has been stimulating for all but particularly for students Katharina Reinhold, Myriam Abdelouhabi, Jacopo Carbone, Juan Pablo Marin Jaramillo and postdoc Tom Girard for most of whom this was the very first Goldschmidt!It is wonderful to see junior scientists discover the richness and diversity of (bio)geochemistry and to go back to the lab with renewed enthusiasm and inspiration.