AGU Bestows Honors in Boston

During its spring meeting held at the end of May, the American Geophysical Union recognized the following individuals for their contributions to geophysics.

The 2001 John Adam Fleming Medal went to Martin Uman for his “outstanding contributions to the study of lightning and the understanding of the relationship between the current and electromagnetic fields of lightning,” according to the medal citation. Uman is chairman of the electrical and computer engineering department at the University of Florida in Gainesville.

Donald R. Nielsen, professor emeritus of land, air, and water resources at the University of California, Davis, received the 2001 Robert E. Horton Medal for his “extraordinary contributions to the hydrologic aspects of soil science, especially related to transport in soils and spatial variability in subsurface hydrology.”

AGU has renamed its Award for Sustained Achievement in Science Journalism to the Robert C. Cowen Award for Sustained Achievement in Science Journalism; the first one went to Robert C. Cowen himself for “significant, consistent, and lasting contributions of high quality in science journalism in the coverage of the Earth and space sciences.” Cowen, now retired, was a science writer for the Christian Science Monitor for more than 50 years.

Dorothy Stout received the Excellence in Geophysical Education Award for 2001 for, among other things, being “an outstanding and inspirational educator” and “a catalyst for change and a leader in the geoscience education community.” Stout is a professor emeritus of geoscience at Cypress College in Cypress, California.

AGU also recently announced two other science journalism awards. The David Perlman Award for Excellence in Science Writing–News went to Glennda Chui, a science reporter at the San Jose Mercury-News for her story “Acid Mountain,” which appeared in the 28 March 2000 issue of the newspaper.

Richard Stone, the European news editor for Science, received the Walter Sullivan Award for Excellence in Science Writing–Features for his freelance article “Vostok: Looking for Life Beneath an Antarctic Glacier,” which appeared in the July 2000 issue of Smithsonian.