Scripps Geophysicist to be Honored By Geological Society of America

Lisa Tauxe, a distinguished professor of geophysics at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, will receive the Arthur L. Day Medal from the Geological Society of America (GSA).

The award recognizes “outstanding distinction in the application of physics and chemistry to the solution of geologic problems, with no restriction to the particular field of geologic research,” according to the GSA.

“This is a completely unexpected honor; of course, I’m thrilled,” said Tauxe.

Tauxe’s studies concentrate on paleomagnetism, the study of remanent magnetism in rocks and archaeological materials. She applies magnetic methods to solve a variety of geological and archaeological problems ranging from reconstructions of ancient locations of continents to providing age constraints for Biblical era archaeological artifacts in the Levant.

Tauxe graduated as Scholar of the House from Yale University in 1978. She received an M.A. (1980), an M.Phil (1982), and a Ph.D. (1983) in geology from Columbia University. She joined Scripps in 1983 as an assistant research geophysicist.

She is a fellow of the American Geophysical Union and the Geological Society of America and she has published more than 180 scientific papers.  In 2003, the GSA presented Tauxe with the George P. Woollard Award.

The Arthur L. Day Medal was established in 1948 through a donation by Arthur L. Day, founding director of the Geophysical Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution of Washington.

According to the society, it was Day's wish to provide an award to recognize outstanding achievement in research and to inspire further effort, rather than to reward a distinguished career, and so it has been the longstanding practice of The Society to award this medal to geoscientists actively pursuing a research career.

Previous recipients of the medal from Scripps Oceanography include Walter Munk (1965), Harmon Craig (1983), and Freeman Gilbert (1985). Several Scripps alumni have also received the award.

Tauxe will receive the medal at the GSA Awards Ceremony at the GSA Annual Meeting on Oct. 19 in Vancouver, British Columbia.

– Robert Monroe

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