Louis Agassiz Medal 2006

The American scientist Richard B. Alley has won the prestigious EGU Louis Agassiz Medal for his outstanding and sustained contribution to glaciology and for his effective communication of important scientific issues in the public policy arena.

The EGU Louis Agassiz Medal has been established in 2005 by the Division on Cryospheric Sciences (CR) in recognition of the scientific achievements of Louis Agassiz. It is reserved for individuals in recognition of their outstanding scientific contribution to the study of the cryosphere on Earth or elsewhere in the solar system.

Professor Richard B. Alley is the Evan Pugh Professor of Geosciences and associate of the Earth and Environmental Systems Institute at the Pennsylvania State University in University Park, Pennsylvania, where he teaches and conducts research on the paleoclimatic records, dynamics, and sedimentary deposits of large ice sheets as a means of understanding the climate system and its history and projecting future changes in climate and sea level. He has spent three field seasons in Antarctica, six in Greenland, and three in Alaska. His book on abrupt climate change, The Two-Mile Time Machine, was the national Phi Beta Kappa Science Award winner for 2001. Recently, Professor Alley chaired a U.S. National Research Council study on abrupt climate change and serves, or has served, on many other advisory panels and steering committees. He has authored or co-authored more than 150 refereed publications and is a “highly cited” researcher as indexed by the Information Sciences Institute.

Resumé

Professor Richard B. Alley is one of the genuinely catalytic scientists of the glaciological universe. He leads the discipline in the creation of new knowledge and, arguably, has transformed the face of glaciology for his generation of scientists. One of his lasting contributions is to consummate the greatly desired union of glaciology with climate science and, by doing so, to raise the stature of glaciology within the entire scientific community. In the 1960s, when the influence of John Nye’s monumental contributions were near their zenith, it would have been difficult to conceive that glaciological science would, or even could, become the standard fare of Nature and Science or provide headlines for the world’s leading newspapers?

Richard B. Alley did not do this single-handed but he has admirably demonstrated how it is accomplished and, by doing so, has helped to lead the Cryosciences to very high ground - further endorsing their credibility, relevance and stature. Not only is Richard Alley one of glaciology’s leading scientists he is also a high-profile public citizen, engagingly, effectively and tirelessly communicating with both the lay public and decision-makers. He is imaginative, sharp and humorous, and remains a thorn in the backside of the Bush administration.

There are few better persons upon whom to bestow the Agassiz Medal. As the first recipient, Richard Alley’s name would top the list for all time and he is one of the very few members of the community whose scientific reputation, like that of Agassiz, is likely to outlive him.

Medal Lecture

Richard B. Alley will accept his medal and give his Medal lecture during the EGU General Assembly, to be held in Vienna, Austria from 2 – 7 April 2006. The lecture ‘Projecting ice-sheet changes’ starts Tuesday, 4 April, 15:30 h, in Lecture room D.

More information:
http://www.copernicus.org/EGU/awards/louis_agassiz_overview.html