2018 Structural Geology & Tectonics Career Contribution Award
Presented to Elizabeth Miller
Citation by Jeff Lee and Victoria Pease
We, and our colleagues who wrote supporting letters, are honoured to present Elizabeth Miller as the 2018 GSA Career Contribution Awardee in Structural Geology & Tectonics. Elizabeth has made unparalleled advances in our understanding of tectonic processes through data-intensive multidisciplinary studies of the crust and mantle. Her scientific legacy lives on not only through her influential papers, but also through her students who have been inspired by her stimulating and animated mentoring.
Elizabeth is known for challenging key research paradigms in structural geology and tectonics, particularly extensional tectonics, by investigating lithosphere-scale deformation and the coupling between deformation at depth and at the surface. A field geologist at heart, Elizabeth combines geologic mapping with a stunning array of stratigraphic, structural, metamorphic, igneous, geochemical, geochronological, thermochronological, and geophysical investigations, and set a standard for how multidisciplinary studies should be done. Through this work, she has contributed to fundamental discoveries in structural geology, tectonics, and lithospheric deformation that have had global impact. Her approach to science has resulted in an exceptionally broad record of publications centered on the Paleozoic evolution and Mesozoic arc tectonics of the coterminous US Cordillera, Mesozoic arc magmatism in far-east Russia, and Arctic orogenesis. Of particular note, her research on extensional tectonics across the Basin and Range and the Arctic has yielded new and fundamental insights into extensional processes from the lower crust to the surface, as well as provided links among surface processes, shallow crustal brittle and mid-crustal ductile processes, metamorphism, and heat input associated with igneous activity during extension.
The remarkable success of Elizabeth’s students highlights her exceptional abilities as a challenging and engaging teacher and mentor. Her legacy, as one colleague wrote, is that “Her intellectual DNA is in play all over the world…” We are honoured to have Elizabeth as a colleague and friend. We, along with so many others, are energized by her sharp mind, keen nose for important scientific problems, relentless inquisitiveness, contagious passion for geology, and indefatigable nature. Who will forget stays at the “Shrimp Hotel”, Elizabeth’s home where she welcomed visiting geologists with her generosity, warm heart, good food, plenty of coffee, and lively scientific discussions. Please join us in congratulating Elizabeth Miller as the 2018 GSA SG&T division Career Contribution Award winner.