Study of the Earth's Deep Interior (SEDI) Section Award for Graduate Research
Information on the Award
The Study of the Earth’s Deep Interior (SEDI) Section Award for Graduate Research is presented annually to one or two graduate student honorees. Students are honored for their notable contributions including advances in the understanding of the deep interior of the Earth or other planetary bodies using a broad range of observational, experimental, or theoretical approaches.
The award is generally presented at the SEDI section event during the AGU Fall Meeting.
Award Benefits
AGU is proud to recognize our section honorees. Recipients of the Study of the Earth’s Deep Interior (SEDI) Section Award for Graduate Research will receive the following benefits with the honor:
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1Award certificate
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2Recognition in Eos
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3Recognition at the AGU Fall Meeting during the award presentation year
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4Complimentary ticket to the SEDI section event at the AGU Fall Meeting during the award presentation year
Eligibility
To better understand eligibility for nominators, supporters and SEDI Award Committee members, review AGU’s Honors Conflict of Interest Policy.
Nominee Eligibility
- The nominee is required to be an active AGU member.
- The nominee must be a current M.S. or Ph.D. student or have completed the Ph.D. requirements (or the highest equivalent terminal degree) in the same year as the award is presented. Exceptions to this requirement for unusual circumstances may be considered on a case-by-case basis by the committee.
- The following individuals are not eligible to be candidates for the award during their terms of service:
- AGU President;
- AGU President-elect;
- Council Leadership Team members;
- Honors and Recognition Committee members;
- Study of the Earth’s Deep Interior section leadership;
- SEDI Award for Graduate Research Committee members; and
- All full-time AGU staff.
Nominator Eligibility
- Nominators are not required to hold an active AGU membership.
- The following individuals are not eligible to be nominators for the award during their terms of service:
- AGU President;
- AGU President-elect;
- Council Leadership Team members;
- Honors and Recognition Committee members;
- Study of the Earth’s Deep Interior section leadership
- SEDI Award for Graduate Research Committee members; and
- All full-time AGU staff.
Supporter Eligibility
- Individuals who write letters of support for the nominee are not required to be active AGU members.
- The following individuals are not eligible to be supporters for the award during their terms of service:
- AGU President;
- AGU President-elect;
- Council Leadership Team members;
- Honors and Recognition Committee members;
- Study of the Earth’s Deep Interior section leadership
- SEDI Award for Graduate Research Committee members; and
- All full-time AGU staff.
Relationships to a Nominee
The following relationships need to be identified and communicated to the award committee but will not disqualify individuals from participating in the nomination or committee review process. These apply to committee members, nominators, and supporters:
- Current dean, departmental chair, supervisor, supervisee, laboratory director, an individual with whom one has a current business or financial relationship (e.g., business partner, employer, employee);
- Research collaborator or co-author within the last three years; and/or
- An individual working at the same institution or having accepted a position at the same institution.
Individuals with the following relationships are disqualified from participating in the award nomination process as a nominator or supporter:
- Family member, spouse, or partner.
- A previous graduate (Master’s or Ph.D.) and/or postdoctoral advisor, or postdoctoral fellow may not write a nomination letter but may write a supporting letter after five years of terminating their relationship with the nominee beginning on 1 January after the year the relationship was terminated.
- A former doctoral or graduate student, or a former postdoctoral fellow may not write a nomination letter for a former advisor but may write a supporting letter after five years of terminating their relationship with the nominee beginning on 1 January after the year the relationship was terminated.
Nomination Package
Your nomination package must contain all of the following files, which should be no more than two pages in length per document. The entire nomination package should be merged into one PDF file. We encourage you to watch our tutorial on successfully submitting a nomination package or read our guide on how to submit a successful nomination.
- A nomination letter that states how the nominee meets the selection criteria. It should include details about outstanding research accomplishments, particularly for a nominee at an early career stage. The nominator’s signature, name, title, institution, and contact information are required and letterhead is preferred.
- At least one but no more than two letters of support. The supporter’s signature, name, title, institution, and contact information are required and letterhead is preferred. We encourage letters from individuals not currently or recently associated with the candidate’s institution of graduate education or employment.
- At least one, and up to three, copies of published or in-press manuscripts that illustrate the candidate’s quality of work.
- A curriculum vitae for the nominee (optional).
- A selected bibliography stating the total number, the types of publications and the number published by AGU (optional).
Submission Process
Recipients
Mingda Lv
Sarah M Arveson
Carver Jay Bierson
Neala Creasy
Citation
Neala Marie Creasy and Wenbo Wu received the 2019 Study of the Earth’s Deep Interior Section Award for Graduate Research at AGU’s Fall Meeting 2019, held 9–13 December in San Francisco, Calif. The award is given annually for advances that contribute to “the understanding of the deep interior of the Earth or other planetary bodies using a broad range of observational, experimental, or theoretical approaches.”
Response
Neala Marie Creasy received her B.S. in applied geophysics from Michigan Technological University in 2010, and a Ph.D. in geology and geophysics from Yale University in 2019 under the supervision of Dr. Maureen Long and Dr. Kanani Lee. Creasy is currently working as a National Science Foundation Division of Earth Sciences postdoctoral fellow in computational seismology and seismic anisotropy under the supervision of Dr. Ebru Bozdag at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden. Her research interests include mantle flow in the deep Earth by using forward and inverse modeling with 3D seismic wave simulations to understand the nature of seismic anisotropy.
Wenbo Wu
Citation
Neala Marie Creasy and Wenbo Wu received the 2019 Study of the Earth’s Deep Interior Section Award for Graduate Research at AGU’s Fall Meeting 2019, held 9–13 December in San Francisco, Calif. The award is given annually for advances that contribute to “the understanding of the deep interior of the Earth or other planetary bodies using a broad range of observational, experimental, or theoretical approaches.”
Response
Wenbo Wu received his B.S. in geophysics from the University of Science and Technology of China in 2008 and a Ph.D. in geophysics from Princeton University in 2019. His doctoral thesis was advised by Jessica C. E. Irving. He is currently working as a postdoctoral researcher at California Institute of Technology. His research interests include deep-Earth structure, subduction zone structure, and numerical simulations of seismic wave propagation.
Jie Deng
Citation
Jie Deng and Ross Maguire will receive the 2018 Study of the Earth’s Deep Interior Award for Graduate Research at AGU’s Fall Meeting 2018, to be held 10–14 December in Washington, D. C. This award is given annually for advances that contribute to the understanding of the deep interior of the Earth or other planetary bodies using a broad range of observational, experimental, and/or theoretical approaches.
Response
Jie Deng received his B.S. in geology from China University of Geosciences at Wuhan in 2013 and an M.Sc. in geophysics from Yale University in 2016. He is currently working toward a Ph.D. in high-pressure mineral physics under the supervision of Kanani K. M. Lee at Yale University. His research interests include melting and dynamics of Earth’s deep interior and magma ocean–atmosphere coupling using both high-pressure experiments and density functional theory.
Ross Maguire
Citation
Jie Deng and Ross Maguire will receive the 2018 Study of the Earth’s Deep Interior Award for Graduate Research at AGU’s Fall Meeting 2018, to be held 10–14 December in Washington, D. C. This award is given annually for advances that contribute to the understanding of the deep interior of the Earth or other planetary bodies using a broad range of observational, experimental, and/or theoretical approaches.
Response
Ross Maguire received his B.S. in geology from Michigan State University in 2011 and a Ph.D. in geophysics from the University of Michigan in 2018. His doctoral thesis was advised jointly by Jeroen Ritsema and Peter van Keken. He is currently working as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Maryland, College Park. His research interests include mantle dynamics, seismic tomography, and planetary seismology.
Lorenzo Colli
Citation
Lorenzo Colli and Tim Jones will receive the 2017 Study of the Earth’s Deep Interior Focus Group Award for Graduate Research at the 2017 American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, to be held 11–15 December in New Orleans, La. This award is given annually “in recognition of advances that contribute to the understanding of the deep interior of the Earth or other planetary bodies using a broad range of observational, experimental, and/or theoretical approaches.”
Response
Lorenzo Colli received his B.S. and M.S. in physics from the University of Milan. He then moved on to a Ph.D. in geophysics under the supervision of Hans-Peter Bunge and Andreas Fichtner at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, which he completed in January 2017. Since September 2017, he has been a research assistant professor at the University of Houston. His research focuses on linking geodynamically relevant observations and theoretical expectations through the retrodiction of past mantle states.
Timothy D Jones
Citation
Lorenzo Colli and Tim Jones will receive the 2017 Study of the Earth’s Deep Interior Focus Group Award for Graduate Research at the 2017 American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, to be held 11–15 December in New Orleans, La. This award is given annually “in recognition of advances that contribute to the understanding of the deep interior of the Earth or other planetary bodies using a broad range of observational, experimental, and/or theoretical approaches.”
Response
Tim Jones received his B.S. in geophysics and geology from Macquarie University in 2011 and from then worked as a geophysicist at Geoscience Australia until the end of 2013. He is currently working toward a Ph.D. in geodynamics under the supervision of D. Rhodri Davies at the Australian National University in Canberra. His research interests include the composition of the ocean floor, the dynamics of plates and plumes, and the evolution of deep mantle structure.
Harriet C. P. Lau
Citation
Harriet Lau will receive the 2016 Study of the Earth's Deep Interior Focus Group Graduate Research Award at the 2016 American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, to be held 12–16 December in San Francisco, Calif. This award is given annually for advances that contribute to the understanding of the deep interior of the Earth or other planetary bodies using a broad range of observational, experimental, and/or theoretical approaches.
Response
Harriet Lau received her M.Sc. in geophysics from Imperial College London in 2012, which included a year of study at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is currently working toward a Ph.D. in geophysics under the supervision of Jerry Mitrovica at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. Her research interests include ocean and solid earth tides, glacial isostatic adjustment, and the anelastic and viscous structure of the Earth.
Joseph G O'Rourke
Citation
Joseph O'Rourke will receive the 2016 Study of the Earth's Deep Interior Section Graduate Research Award at the 2016 American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, to be held 12–16 December in San Francisco, Calif. This award is given annually for advances that contribute to the understanding of the deep interior of the Earth or other planetary bodies using a broad range of observational, experimental, and/or theoretical approaches.
Response
Joseph O’Rourke received his B.S. in astrophysics and geology from Yale University in 2012 and an M.S. in planetary science from the California Institute of Technology in 2014. He is currently working toward a Ph.D. in planetary science under the supervision of David Stevenson at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. His research interests include the history of Earth’s magnetic field and volcanism on Venus, the interiors of icy satellites, and exoplanets.
Matt B Weller
Citation
Matthew Weller will receive the 2015 Study of the Earth's Deep Interior Focus Group Graduate Research Award at the 2015 American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, to be held 14–18 December in San Francisco, Calif. Matthew Weller received a dual B.Sc. in geology and astrophysics from the University of Toledo in 2007 and a M.Sc. in remote sensing from the University of Nevada, Reno, in 2010. He is currently finishing a Ph.D. in planetary science and geodynamics under the principle supervision of Adrian Lenardic at Rice University in Houston, Texas. His research focuses on the evolution and dynamics of planetary bodies, deformation through the crust and mantle, and the coupling of global-scale endogenic and exogenic cycles.
Andrew J Schaeffer
Citation
Andrew Schaeffer received the 2014 Study of the Earth's Deep Interior Focus Group Graduate Research Award at the 2014 American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, held 15–19 December in San Francisco, Calif. Andrew Schaeffer received his B.Sc. in geophysics from the University of British Columbia in 2006 and a M.Sc. in seismology from the University of British Columbia in 2009. He recently completely his Ph.D. in global surface wave tomography under the supervision of Sergei Lebedev and Chris Bean jointly at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies and University College Dublin in Dublin, Ireland. His research focuses on the structure and dynamics of the Earth’s upper mantle and transition zone, imaged using surface wave tomography, receiver functions, and geodynamic modeling.
Honors Contacts
