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Cowen Award Committee
2010–2012 term
Chair
Susan Hough, United States Geological Survey, Pasadena, California
Members
Richard Dixon, Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas
Kathryn Matthews, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Ligia Perez-Cruz, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Coyoacan, Mexico
Josh Willis, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California
Staff Liaisons
Peter Weiss
Beth Paredes
In order to recognize a journalist or a group that has made significant, lasting, and consistent contributions to accurate reporting or writing on the geophysical sciences for the general public, the Union established in 1991 the Sustained Achievement Award in Science Journalism. Richard Kerr of Science won the first award in 1993. Since 2001, the award has been named for Robert C. Cowen, longtime science editor of The Christian Science Monitor. The Award is presented not more often than every two years.
Committee Charge
- Select the recipient of the Cowen Award; the final decision is subject for approval of the Executive Committee.
- Interpret the scope of the award broadly and to keep in mind that as a Union award, it should reflect the interdisciplinary nature of the Earth and space sciences.
- Be especially mindful of the diversity of the community of individuals encompassed by AGU.
- Do not depend solely on unsolicited nominations but should be proactive by encouraging nominations through committee member contacts.
- State, as part of the award recommendation to the Executive Committee, the number of candidates considered, how many of these were holdovers and how many were new, and whether the new candidates were nominations from general call or were actively encouraged by the committee.
- Define the process used for reaching the decision.
Work Plan for 2010–2012
In addition to selecting Cowen awardees,
- Review data from Cowen Award’s selection processes for the past several years to determine if the program is operating maximally in terms of the relevant goals of the Union’s strategic plan.
- Work with Section and Focus Group committees to increase the number of nominations of viable candidates in underrepresented groups so that newly elected awardees reflect the diversity of the Union membership; and
- Work with the Meetings and Honors and Recognition Committees to review formats for the award ceremonies at AGU meetings and to recommend revisions to award ceremony formats as necessary.
–July 2010