AGU Announces Prize Winners for 2004

The American Geophysical Union recently named the recipients of its medals and awards for 2004. The presentation of these prizes for contributions to geophysics and society will take place at various AGU meetings during the year.

Seismologist Keiiti Aki has been chosen to receive the William Bowie Medal, AGU’s highest honor. He is being recognized for “developing the field of seismic tomography, used to understand structure, composition, and solid convective flow in the mantle; and for providing new seismological tools to study magma injection and flow and other volcanic processes in the field.” Aki is science director emeritus of the Southern California Earthquake Center at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

Mervyn S. Paterson has been selected as the Walter H. Bucher Medal winner for his “sustained, seminal, and innovative contributions to understanding the strength and mechanical behavior of crustal materials.” Paterson is an emeritus professor and visiting fellow at the Research School of Earth Sciences of the Australian National University in Canberra.

The Maurice Ewing Medal goes this year to Bruce A. Warren, senior scientist emeritus at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts. He is being recognized for his “contributions to the understanding of the general circulation of the ocean, including water mass formation by sea–air interaction, deep and surface boundary currents and interior flow, planetary waves, and the impact of global integral momentum constraints on the ocean circulation.”

David Gubbins takes home the John Adam Fleming Medal for his “seminal contributions to geomagnetism, spanning from theoretical magnetohydrodynamics and thermodynamics to observational geomagnetism, paleomagnetism, and even applied crustal magnetism.” Gubbins is a research professor of Earth sciences in the School of Earth Sciences at the University of Leeds in the UK.

The Harry H. Hess Medal recipient is Adolphe Nicolas, professor emeritus at the Université Montpellier II, Sciences et Techniques du Languedoc, in France. He is being honored for his “fundamental contributions to the understanding of solid Earth dynamics through observations in structural geology and petrology.”

Garrison Sposito, professor of ecosystem sciences and environmental engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, will receive the Robert E. Horton Medal for 2004. Sposito is being recognized for his “seminal and extensive contributions in establishing the physical and chemical foundations of hydrology.”

Robin N. Canup, Daniel Sigman, and David W. J. Thompson will each collect a James B. Macelwane Medal from AGU. This award acknowledges significant contributions to the geophysical sciences by outstanding young scientists. Canup is assistant director of the space studies department at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado. Sigman is an assistant professor of geosciences at Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey. Thompson is an assistant professor in the atmospheric science department at Colorado State University in Fort Collins.

The Roger Revelle Medal will go to Inez Fung for her “excellence in research contributions to the atmospheric, oceanic, and terrestrial disciplines, and her strong scientific leadership.” Fung is a professor in the department of Earth and planetary science and the department of environmental science, policy, and management at the University of California, Berkeley, and also directs the Berkeley Atmospheric Sciences Center.

J. Michael Hall has garnered the Waldo E. Smith Medal for his “leadership in the field of climate sciences and for his creation of a better model for the management of scientific programs.” Hall recently retired as director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Global Programs.

AGU has selected Wayne Thatcher as the Charles A. Whitten Medal winner in recognition of his “leadership in applying geodetic techniques to understand deformation associated with the earthquake cycle, leading to new insights and understanding of strain development and faulting.” Thatcher is a senior research geophysicist at the US Geological Survey in Menlo Park, California.

The Excellence in Geophysical Education Award goes this year to Cathryn Manduca, director of the Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. She is being honored for her “sustained commitment to excellence in geophysical education in her work as coordinator of the Keck Geology Consortium and her involvement in bringing important issues to the attention of the geophysical education community through community-wide conferences and workshops.”

George Tselioudis earns AGU’s Charles S. Falkenberg Award for his “contributions to the study of clouds as they relate to climate forcing, and thus, global change, and his tireless efforts to make his research accessible beyond the scientific community.” Tselioudis is a research scientist at Columbia University and NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City.

The Edward A. Flinn III Award is going to Joseph H. King for his “unparalleled commitment to the acquisition, dissemination, and archiving of data that have served the space community for four decades and will serve future generations.” King is a scientist with the QSS Group Inc in Lanham, Maryland.

Paula S. Apsell will receive the Robert C. Cowen Award for Sustained Achievement in Science Journalism for her “impact on the public understanding of science through her work on the Public Broadcasting Service’s hour-long science program NOVA.” Apsell is senior executive producer of NOVA and head of the science unit at WGBH in Boston.

J. Madeleine Nash, contributor to TIME magazine, is being acknowledged with the David Perlman Award for Excellence in Science Journalism–News for her article entitled “Fire-proofing the Forests,” which appeared in the 18 August 2003 issue of that magazine.

Freelance writer Kevin Krajick takes home his second Walter Sullivan Award for Excellence in Science Journalism–Features. He has the distinction of being the first person to win this AGU award twice. Krajick is being honored for “Defusing Africa’s Killer Lakes,” an article he wrote for the September 2003 issue of Smithsonian magazine.