Trained as a geologist specializing in mineralogy and crystallography, Dr. Harlow has concentrated his research on the chemistry and structure of minerals as tools for understanding their origin and the record of geological processes they contain. This interest and questions about specimens in the gem collection led him to a long-term study of jadeite rock, used as jade, and related rocks from the Motagua Valley in Guatemala and, more recently, Myanmar (Burma), Japan and Cuba. NSF-funded collaborative projects on the geology along the Motagua fault (the North American-Caribbean plate boundary) in Guatemala are active. Expeditions to Myanmar permitted visits to the famous ruby deposits including the Mogok Stone Tract which has led to a research project on the genesis of the deposit and the myriad minerals and gems they produce. A collection of well-characterized mineral standards for spectroscopy by astrophysicists and planetary scientists continues to be developed with help from NASA.