Award Winning Papers

Scripps Oceanography Student Research Impresses the American Geophysical Union

Two graduate students at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego were selected for Outstanding Student Paper Awards for their presentations at the 2007 American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting in San Francisco in December 2007.

Scripps graduate student Karen Weitemeyer

Scripps Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics graduate students Geoffrey Ely and Karen Weitemeyer were each recognized as among the best of a strong group of student presenters, setting an example for fellow students and the entire AGU membership.

Ely's paper, presented in the Earth and Space Science Informatics section, was titled "Verification of SORD, and application to the TeraShake scenario." His research focuses on numerical methods for large-scale earthquake simulation, and, for the AGU paper, simulated the ground motions from a magnitude 7.6 event on the southern San Andreas Fault. Ely will soon be defending his dissertation and will take a postdoctorate researcher position at the University of Southern California.

Weitemeyer received an award from the Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism section of AGU for her paper titled, "Electromagnetic imaging of hydrates and accretionary structure at Hydrate Ridge, Oregon using 2.5 D model studies." Her research focuses on the application of marine controlled-source electromagnetics (CSEM) techniques for gas hydrate detection. She analyzed an extensive data set collected at Hydrate Ridge, Oregon by the Marine Electromagnetic laboratory at Scripps Institution of Oceanography to produce a 2D model of the data.

CSEM is one of two marine-based techniques used for oil and gas exploration. In CSEM, scientists use a deep-towed transmitter that generates electromagnetic fields that propagate through the Earth's crust and receivers placed on the sea floor measure the EM signal from below the seafloor. Scientists are interested in submarine gas hydrates because they are a hazard to drilling, a potential hydrocarbon resource, and have been implicated as factors in both submarine slope stability and climate change.

The Outstanding Student Paper Award winners will be recognized in an upcoming publication of Eos, the weekly newspaper of AGU.

AGU is a scientific society with a membership of 50,000 researchers, teachers, and students. AGU conducts meetings and conferences, publishes journals, books and a weekly newspaper, and sponsors a variety of educational and public information programs.

Annie Reisewitz

February 20, 2008