Citation

Daphné Lemasquerier received her B.Sc. degree in Earth and planetary sciences from École Normale Supérieure (ENS) de Lyon in 2016, followed by her M.Sc. degree in fluid mechanics and nonlinear physics from Aix-Marseille University in 2018. Following her taste for interdisciplinary and multimethod science, she completed her Ph.D. in 2021 in geophysical fluid dynamics under the supervision of Dr. Michael Le Bars and Dr. Benjamin Favier at Institut de Recherche sur les Phénomènes Hors Equilibre (IRPHE) (CNRS and Aix-Marseille University, France). In her Ph.D. research, she combined innovative laboratory experiments with insightful theoretical and numerical analysis to better understand the nonlinear dynamics of Jupiter’s atmosphere, including its shallow vortices, deep jets, and their complex interactions. In addition to the Donald L. Turcotte Award for her contribution to nonlinear geophysics, her commitment to research and her exceptional work were awarded the Milton Van Dyke Award for a poster submitted at the 2019 Gallery of Fluid Motion of the American Physical Society Division of Fluid Dynamics (APS/DFD) meeting in Seattle, two L’Oreal-UNESCO For Women In Science awards received in 2021 and 2022 (French Young Talents program and International Rising Talents program), and the APS/DFD Andreas Acrivos Dissertation Award in Fluid Dynamics in 2022. Since obtaining her Ph.D., Daphné has kept following the same scientific path at the frontier of fluid mechanics and geosciences. From January to August 2022, she was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Texas at Austin, working with Dr. Krista Soderlund on modeling the fluid dynamics of subsurface oceans in the icy satellites of Jupiter and Saturn. Since September 2022, she has started a lectureship position in fluid mechanics at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. —Michael Le Bars and Benjamin Favier, IRPHE, CNRS, Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France

Response

It has been a great and privileged experience for me to carry out my Ph.D. at IRPHE (Institut de Recherche sur les Phénomènes Hors Equilibre), Marseille, and it is a real honor to receive the Donald L. Turcotte Award for this work. My thesis work focused on the fluid dynamics of Jupiter, which exhibits fascinating dynamics in its cloud layer, from large-scale vortices to east-west bands and smaller swirling motions. Better understanding of the emergence and equilibration of these features is among the goals of NASA’s ongoing Juno mission, but its complex measurements need to be complemented by idealized modeling. By combining laboratory experiments, numerical simulations, and theoretical analyses, I tried to shed light on the phenomena observed on Jupiter in a simplified, but physically motivated, context. I feel extremely lucky to have undertaken this project under truly privileged human and material conditions. I want to take this opportunity to thank the many great people who supported me and contributed to the outcome of this project. I am particularly grateful to Jon Aurnou (University of California, Los Angeles), with whom I discovered geophysical fluid dynamics and who initiated the Jacuzzi experimental project; and my Ph.D. supervisors, Michael Le Bars and Benjamin Favier, who offered me incredible scientific, professional, and personal support. A huge thank-you also to the technical staff at IRPHE and their great enthusiasm and help in setting up the experiments. A Ph.D. is first and foremost a great human and scientific adventure, and it has been both a challenging and very fulfilling experience for me. I feel like I enjoyed every single aspect of what my work involved, from the conception to the building of experiments, to the data analysis and interpretation, and the communication to various communities and audiences. Academia is nonetheless a very competitive and demanding work environment that sometimes sprinkles doubt along the path of early-career researchers. In this regard, I am deeply grateful to my supervisors for nominating me for this award and giving me the chance to feel that I’m at the right place. I’m finally very excited about the visibility that this award offers me. A few years ago, when I discovered planetary fluid dynamics, I was truly amazed to see how we can better understand phenomena occurring at the scale of a planet using human-sized experiments in water. I hope I can now humbly try to help inspire young people and particularly young women in joining this community! —Daphné Lemasquerier, School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, U.K.

Citation

Vera Melinda Galfi received her B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in meteorology from the University of Hamburg in 2012 and 2014, respectively. She finished her Ph.D. in geosciences in 2018 under the supervision of Valerio Lucarini at the same university, studying extreme events in chaotic atmospheric models. Her research focuses on understanding high-dimensional, chaotic dynamical systems, like the atmosphere, and includes the study of extreme values, large deviations, and instabilities in these systems. Melinda is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Meteorological Institute of the University of Hamburg.

Meredith Plumley will receive the 2018 Donald L. Turcotte Award at AGU’s Fall Meeting 2018, to be held 10–14 December in Washington, D. C. This award is given annually to a recent Ph.D. recipient for “outstanding dissertation research that contributes directly to nonlinear geophysics.”

Citation

Meredith Plumley received her B.A. in mathematics in 2011 from Washington University in St. Louis. She joined the applied mathematics department at the University of Colorado Boulder for her graduate work, earning her Ph.D. in 2018 under the supervision of Keith Julien and Michael Calkins. Her research topics include fluid dynamics, planetary magnetic fields, and model reduction techniques. She is currently working as a postdoctoral researcher with Andrew Jackson at ETH Zürich in the Department of Earth Sciences.

Prachanda Subedi will receive the 2017 Donald L. Turcotte Award at the 2017 American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, to be held 11–15 December in New Orleans, La. This award is given annually to a recent Ph.D. recipient for “outstanding dissertation research that contributes directly to nonlinear geophysics.”

Citation

Prachanda Subedi received his B.S. degree in physics from East Central University in Ada, Okla. After completing his bachelor’s degree, he enrolled at the University of Delaware, where he received a Ph.D. in space physics in 2017. His Ph.D. work was done under the supervision of William Matthaeus. His research interests include turbulence, space plasma, magnetohydrodynamics, and transport theory.

Yavor Kamer will receive the 2016 Donald L. Turcotte Award, given annually to recent Ph.D. recipients for outstanding dissertation research that contributes directly to the field of nonlinear geophysics.

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Yavor received his B.S. in control engineering in 2007 from Istanbul Technical University and an M.Sc. in control and automation engineering from the same university in 2010, the same year he started an earthquake engineering Ph.D. at Bogazici University. In 2012, he enrolled in ETH Zürich where he received a Ph.D. in earthquake forecasting in 2015. His Ph.D. work was done under the supervision of Didier Sornette, Guy Ouillon, and Edi Kissling. His research interests include statistical seismology, pattern recognition, multifractal analysis, and data-driven model parameterization.

Jezabel Curbelo will receive the 2015 Donald L. Turcotte Award, given annually to recent Ph.D. recipients for outstanding dissertation research that contributes directly to the field of nonlinear geophysics.

Citation

Jezabel received her B.S. in mathematics from Universidad de la Laguna in 2009 and a M.Sc. in mathematics and applications from Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM) in 2010. She received a Ph.D. in mathematics from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid in 2014. Her Ph.D. work was done under the supervision of Ana M. Mancho at the Instituto de Ciencias Matemáticas, a joint research initiative of Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas and three universities in Madrid (UAM, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid). Her research interests include convection, instabilities and bifurcations, dynamical systems, and numerical methods for problems in geophysical fluid dynamics.

Behzad Ghanbarian-Alavijeh will receive the 2015 Donald L. Turcotte Award, given annually to recent Ph.D. recipients for outstanding dissertation research that contributes directly to the field of nonlinear geophysics.

Citation

Behzad Ghanbarian-Alavijeh received his B.S. in water engineering from Isfahan University of Technology in 2005 and a M.Sc. in irrigation and drainage from the University of Tehran in 2007. He received his Ph.D. in environmental sciences from Wright State University under the supervision of Allen Hunt in 2014. He is currently working as a postdoctoral research fellow in the Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering Department, University of Texas at Austin. His research interests include analytical and numerical modeling of fluid flow and solute transport in disordered porous media.

Woosok Moon was awarded the 2014 Donald L. Turcotte Award, given annually to recent Ph.D. recipients for outstanding dissertation research that contributes directly to the field of nonlinear geophysics.

Citation

Woosok Moon was awarded the 2014 Donald L. Turcotte Award, given annually to recent Ph.D. recipients for outstanding dissertation research that contributes directly to the field of nonlinear geophysics. He gave an invited talk and was formally presented with the award at the 2014 American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, held 15–19 December in San Francisco, Calif. Woosok received his B.S. in atmospheric science from Seoul National University in 2000 and a M.Sc. in meteorology from the Pennsylvania State University in 2008. He received a Ph.D. in geophysics under the supervision of J. S. Wettlaufer at Yale University. His research interests include Arctic sea ice thermodynamics, geophysical fluid dynamics, and stochastic dynamical systems applied to climate dynamics.

Jonathan F. Donges was awarded the 2013 Donald L. Turcotte Award, given annually to recent Ph.D. recipients for outstanding dissertation research that contributes directly to the field of nonlinear geophysics. Donges’s Ph.D. thesis is entitled “Functional network macroscopes for probing past and present Earth system dynamics.” He gave an invited talk and was formally presented with the award at the 2013 AGU Fall Meeting, held 9–13 December in San Francisco, Calif.

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Jonathan received his M.Sc. in physics from the University of Potsdam in Germany, in 2009 and a Ph.D. in theoretical physics under the supervision of Jürgen Kurths from Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany, in 2012. He is currently working as a postdoctoral researcher at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Potsdam, Germany, and Stockholm Resilience Centre in Stockholm, Sweden. His research interests include complexity in past and present climate dynamics as well as human interactions with the Earth system on a global scale.

Asim Biswas has been awarded the Donald L. Turcotte Award, given annually to recent Ph.D. recipients for outstanding dissertation research that contributes directly to the field of nonlinear geophysics. Asim’s Ph.D. thesis is entitled “Multi-scale controls on spatial patterns of soil water storage in the hummocky regions of North America.” He gave an invited talk and was formally presented with the award at the 2012 AGU Fall Meeting, held 3–7 December in San Francisco, Calif.

Citation

Asim received his B.Sc. in agriculture from Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, India, in 2004 and a M.Sc. in soil science from the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, India, in 2006. He received his Ph.D. in soil physics under the supervision of Bing Si from the University of Saskatchewan, Canada, in 2011. He is currently working as a postdoctoral fellow at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization in Canberra, Australia. His research interests include soil physics, spatial variability, soil hydrology, and quantitative nonlinear geophysics.

Ian Grooms has been awarded the AGU Donald L. Turcotte Award, given annually to recent Ph.D. recipients for outstanding dissertation research that contributes directly to the field of nonlinear geophysics. Grooms’s thesis is entitled “Asymptotic and numerical methods for rapidly rotating buoyant flow.” He presented an invited talk and was formally presented with the award at the 2011 AGU Fall Meeting, held 5–9 December in San Francisco, Calif.

Citation

Grooms received his B.S. in mathematics from the College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Va., in 2005. He received a Ph.D. in applied mathematics in 2011 under the supervision of Keith Julien at the University of Colorado at Boulder. His research interests include asymptotic and numerical methods for multiscale problems in geophysical fluid dynamics.

Sabine Lennartz has been awarded the Donald L. Turcotte Award, given annually to a recent Ph.D. recipient for outstanding dissertation research that contributes directly to the field of nonlinear geophysics. Lennartz’s thesis is entitled “Correlation and trend analysis in short records: Applications in climatology and seismology.” She is scheduled to present an invited talk in the Nonlinear Geophysics General Contributions session (NG01) during the 2010 AGU Fall Meeting, 13–17 December in San Francisco, Calif. Lennartz will be formally presented with the award at the Nonlinear Geophysics focus group reception on 14 December 2010.

Citation

Lennartz received her M.S. in theoretical physics from the University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany, in 2005. In 2009 she received a Ph.D. in theoretical physics under the supervision of Armin Bunde at the Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany. Her research interests include seismology and climatology, in particular, the effect of long-term memory on extreme events and the detection of unnatural (anthropogenic) trends.

Jerome Neufeld has been awarded the Donald L. Turcotte Award, given annually to recent Ph.D. recipients for outstanding dissertation research that contributes directly to the field of nonlinear geophysics. Neufeld’s thesis is entitled “Solidification in the fast lane: Flow-induced morphological instability in geological systems.” He was formally presented with the award at the Nonlinear Geophysics Focus Group reception during the 2009 AGU Fall Meeting, held 14–18 December in San Francisco, Calif.

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Jerome received his B.A.S. in engineering science from the University of Toronto in 2001, and a Ph.D. in geophysics from Yale University in 2008, under the supervision of J. S. Wettlaufer, on the impact of oceanic currents on the formation of sea ice. He is currently a fellow at the Institute of Theoretical Geophysics, University of Cambridge, working on the fluid dynamics of geophysical systems including carbon dioxide sequestration, the influence of flow on the crystal structure of mushy layers, and the evolution of icicles.

Irina Rypina has been awarded the Donald L. Turcotte Award, given annually to recent Ph.D. recipients for outstanding dissertation research that contributes directly to the field of nonlinear geophysics. Rypina’s thesis is entitled “Lagrangian coherent structures and transport in two-dimensional incompressible flows with oceanographic and atmospheric applications.” She will be formally presented with the award at the Nonlinear Geophysics Focus Group Reception during the 2008 AGU Fall Meeting, which will be held 15–19 December in San Francisco, Calif.

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Irina received her B.S. in plasma physics from Nizhny Novgorod State University, in Russia, in 2002, an M.S. in physics from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in 2003, and a Ph.D. in applied marine physics from the University of Miami in 2007. She is currently working as a postdoctoral investigator at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Her research interests include dynamical systems theory, transport and mixing processes in oceanic and atmospheric flows, Hamiltonian dynamics, underwater acoustics, and magnetic confinement of plasmas.