2022 Geological Society of America Medal & Award Winners

Boulder, CO, USA: Each year the Geological Society of America (GSA) recognizes outstanding scientific achievement and distinguished service to the geoscience profession. Honorees will be recognized at the Presidential Address & Awards Ceremony on 9 October 2022, during the Society’s Connects 2022 meeting in Denver, Colorado, USA.

The President’s Medalist, selected by immediate Past-President Barbara Dutrow of Louisiana State University, is Priscilla Grew of the University of Nebraska.

HIGHEST HONORS: GSA GOLD MEDALISTS

Penrose Medalist An Yin of the University of California Los Angeles was nominated by Mark Harrison for his “mastery of field, theoretical, and laboratory studies have greatly enhanced our understanding how planetary lithospheres deform. His contributions have elucidated the nature of slow earthquakes and the surface evolution of extraterrestrial bodies, but his magnum opus is his three decades in the making four-dimensional synthesis of the Indo-Asian orogen.”

Arthur L. Day Medalist Timothy Lyons of the University of California Riverside was nominated by Kurt O. Konhauser for his leadership “in developing and applying innovative paleoenvironmental proxies for tracking redox changes in the rock record, specifically how atmospheric oxygen levels have fluctuated throughout the Precambrian. His work also demonstrated that the present-day diversity of life is the result of billions of years of gradual changes in biogeochemical cycles and biosphere evolution.”

Young Scientist Award (Donath Medal) winner Kimberly Lau of Penn State will receive a cash prize of US$10,000 for outstanding achievement as an early-career professional. She was nominated by Katherine H. Freeman, who writes, “Kimberly Lau has transformed use of non-traditional isotopes with empirical and theoretical advances and made major discoveries of the causes and consequences of oceanic anoxia in Earth history. She has quantified weathering and biogeochemical redox dynamics to reveal how they fueled global transitions in the carbon cycle and influenced evolution.”

OTHER TOP GSA AWARDS

GSA Public Service Award

Lucile M. Jones of the Lucy Jones Center for Science and Society was nominated by Matt Hudson, who writes, “Lucy Jones has spent her entire career creating and sharing scientific information with the goal of helping communities prepare for natural disasters. After 33 years with the [U.S. Geological Survey] … she launched her own center in 2016, which is now dedicated to this purpose.

Yumei Wang of the Oregon State Department of Geology and Mineral Industries was nominated by Jeff Rubin for dedicating “most of her professional career to making communities safer and more resilient to seismic hazards, through research, public policy, public outreach, and professional service.

Randolph W. “Bill” and Cecile T. Bromery Award for the Minorities

Frederic H. Wilson of the U.S. Geological Survey was nominated by Rufus D. Catchings for having made “significant contributions to the Earth sciences” and working “tirelessly to introduce Native Alaskan youth and others minorities to Earth science and other STEM fields.”

Doris M. Curtis Outstanding Woman in Science Award

This honor goes to a woman within the first three years following her degree, who has impacted the field of geosciences in a major way based on her Ph.D. research. Annie M. Bauer of the University of Wisconsin was nominated by Mark D. Schmitz, who notes that “her dissertation work in isotope geochemistry and geochronology applied to the early Earth record has produced a series of publications and a collaboration space that eminently fulfills the award’s criteria.”

Florence Bascom Award for Geologic Mapping

Daniel J. Koning from the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources was nominated by Stephen G. Wells because of his record of publishing 57 geologic maps and [being] the lead author on 34; a demonstrated level of excellence in field studies and mastery in detail geologic mapping; [and] significant contributions enhancing our understanding of geologic processes, earth history, and the availability of natural resources.”

Distinguished Service Award

Jennifer Nocerino from the Geological Society of America was nominated by Alicia Kahn, who writes, “Jennifer is one of the most organized and committed people I have encountered professionally. Since 2006, she has run numerous concurrent panels, lunches, [and] courses to mentor students at the GSA annual meeting. She demonstrates continually that this is not just a job but a passion to serve the community.” The nomination was seconded by Barrett Taylor Dixon, who writes, “For 15+ years Jennifer Nocerino has worked tirelessly for GSA, bringing geoscience students an array of continuing education and career development programs in an increasingly competitive and challenging career environment. Her selfless commitment and dedication to GSA, particularly the student members, the future of our science, is without equal.”

W. Storrs Cole Research Award

Pete van Hengstrum of Texas A&M University will be awarded US$5,500, from the W. Storrs Cole fund for the research project, “Documenting subtropical climate and rainfall variability during the Dansgaard-Oeschger Events of Marine Isotope State 3 using foraminiferal and ostracod paleoecology.”

Honorary Fellows

Laura DeSantis, National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics, Italy
Lin Ding, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, People’s Republic of China

Photos of the GSA award recipients are online at  https://www.geosociety.org/GSA/About/awards/GSA_Awards/GSA/Awards/GSA.aspx.

Citations and responses from the 2022 GSA Medal and Award winners will be posted on this site after the GSA Connects 2022 meeting.

GSA’s Division awardees and newly elected Fellows are also online at  https://www.geosociety.org/GSA/About/awards/Division_Awards/GSA/Awards/Division.aspx.

https://www.geosociety.org/GSA/About/awards/GSA_Fellows/GSA/Awards/Fellows-New. aspx

Read more about GSA’s medals and awards: https://www.geosociety.org/GSA/About/awards/About_Awards/GSA/Awards/About_GSA_Awards.aspx

Incoming GSA President Mark Little, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, will give his 2022 Presidential Address on Sunday, 9 October, noon–1:30 p.m. PST, speaking on “On Science, Power, and the Future of our Earth.”
Link: https://community.geosociety.org/gsa2021/program/special

The Geological Society of America (GSA) (https://www.geosociety.org) unites a diverse community of geoscientists in a common purpose to study the mysteries of our planet (and beyond) and share scientific findings. Members and friends around the world, from academia, government, and industry, participate in GSA meetings, publications, and programs at all career levels, to foster professional excellence. GSA values and supports inclusion through cooperative research, public dialogue on earth issues, science education, and the application of geoscience in the service of humankind.

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