2017-2018 GSA James B. Thompson, Jr. Distinguished International Lecturers

The lecture tours are made possible through a gift to the GSA Foundation by James B. Thompson, Jr., whose bequest contributed to the endowment of two lecture tours by distinguished geologists, one a non-North American scientist to tour academic and related institutions within North America, and the other a North American scientist to tour foreign universities and geological institutions. Both tours are arranged under the guidance of GSA International.

The GSA International committee selected Iain Simpson Stewart (Plymouth University) as the incoming speaker from outside of North America who will present seminars of broad geologic interest in a tour of selected academic and related institutions within North America. Ross S. Stein (Temblor, Inc.) is the outgoing speaker from within North America who will present exciting and cutting edge geoscience research in a tour of foreign universities and geological institutions.

Iain Simpson Stewart

Director, Sustainable Earth Inst.
School of Geography, Earth & Environmental Sciences (Faculty of Science & Engineering)
Plymouth University
Plymouth, Devon, United Kingdom

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Iain is professor of Geoscience Communication at Plymouth University and Director of its Sustainable Earth Institute. His long-standing research interests are in interdisciplinary investigations of geological hazards (earthquakes, volcanism, tsunamis) and abrupt environmental change.

Alongside his academic research, for the last 15 years Iain has worked closely with BBC Science to host a number of major television documentaries on the nature, history and state of the planet. His landmark specialist factual series, many of which air in the US on National Geographic or Discovery channels, include ‘Hot Rocks’, ‘Journeys into the Ring of Fire’, ‘Earth: The Power of the Planet’, ‘Earth: The Climate Wars’, ‘How Earth Made Us’, ‘How To Grow A Planet’, ‘Volcano Live’, ‘Rise of the Continents’, and ‘Planet Oil’. Iain regularly presents special BBC documentary features on topical geoscientific issues, notably the 2011 Japanese earthquake, the Russian meteor strike, Shale gas/ Fracking, and Florida sinkholes.

This popular geoscience output has gained international endorsement, receiving honours / medals from the American Geosciences Institute (2017), the European Federation of Geologists (2016), the Royal Society of Edinburgh (2016), the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (2014), the American Geophysical Union (2013) , and the Royal Geographical Society (2010), as well election as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (2017) and an MBE (2013). In addition, he served for 7 years (2007-2016) as Theme Leader for Geo-Hazards on the Member of Scientific Committee of the UNESCO International Geological Programme (IGCP), and has been recently approved as a UNESCO Chair in Geoscience and Society.

Now at the helm of Plymouth’s Sustainable Earth Institute, he is currently developing an interdisciplinary research programme, working with social scientists and media professionals to communicate contested geoscience – geo-energy, climate change, natural hazards – to public audiences.

More at Plymouth University

Ross S. Stein

CEO & Cofounder
Temblor, Inc.
Redwood City, California, USA

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Ross S. Stein is CEO and cofounder of Temblor, Inc. a free mobile app and daily blog that lets everyone on earth know their seismic risk and learn how they could reduce it. He is also Adjunct Professor of Geophysics at Stanford University, USGS Scientist Emeritus, and President of the Tectonophysics section of the American Geophysical Union. A Fellow of the Geological Society of America and the American Geophysical Union, Stein received the 2012 Gilbert F. White Natural Hazards Award from AGU, gave a 2012 TEDx talk, ‘Defeating Earthquakes,’ and received the 2000 Eugene M. Shoemaker Distinguished Achievement Award of the USGS. In 2003, the Science Citation Index reported that Stein was the second most cited author in earthquake science during the preceding decade; he was tenth most cited during 1900-2010. In 2010, Stein cofounded the Global Earthquake Model Foundation, and chaired its Science Board until 2015. Stein is a member of the Resilient America Roundtable of the National Academy of Sciences, the Natural Catastrophe Advisory Council of Zurich Insurance, and an Associate of the Willis Research Network. Stein frequently brings his insights and joy about scientific discovery to the public through media interviews, public presentations, and in IMAX, Discovery Channel and NOVA films.

View Ross' CV