Union Awards, Medals, and Prizes

Union medals, awards, and prizes

Program overview

AGU presents a variety of awards, medals, and prizes to recognize individuals whose excellence and leadership in research, education and innovation have significantly advanced Earth and space science. Rewarding that excellence in scientific research, education, and outreach not only strengthens our science but can further its impact and value to society. Each year, we honor these exceptional individuals at our Fall Meeting.

Review our many awards, medals, and prizes and their eligibility.

Nominations are Open!

The nomination cycle for 2023 AGU Union awards, medals, and prizes is now open until 12 April at 23:59 ET. Nominate a colleague, peer or student today.

Submit

Honor name	Career stage	Nominator requirements	Nominee requirements
Charles A. Whitten Medal	Senior scientist	Active AGU member	Not required to be an AGU member
Devendra Lal Memorial Medal	Early career or mid-career scientist	Active AGU member	(1) Not required to be an AGU member (2) nominee must be within within 10 to 20 years of receiving their Ph.D. or highest equivalent terminal degree (3) nominee must belong to and work in a country designated by the World Bank as low or lower-middle income.
Eunice Newton Foote Medal for Earth-Life Science	Senior scientist	Active AGU member	Not required to be an AGU member
Harry H. Hess Medal	Senior scientist	Active AGU member	Not required to be an AGU member
Inge Lehmann Medal	Senior scientist	Active AGU member	Not required to be an AGU member
James B. Macelwane Medal	Early career scientist	Active AGU member	(1) Not required to be an AGU member (2) nominee must be no more than 10 years beyond receiving their Ph.D. or highest equivalent terminal degree
Joanne Simpson Medal for Mid-Career Scientists	Mid-career scientist	Active AGU member	(1) Not required to be an AGU member (2) nominee must be within 20 years of receiving their Ph.D. or highest equivalent terminal degree
John Adam Fleming Medal	Senior scientist	Active AGU member	Not required to be an AGU member
Maurice Ewing Medal	Senior scientist	Active AGU member	Not required to be an AGU member
Robert E. Horton Medal	Senior scientist	Active AGU member	Not required to be an AGU member
Roger Revelle Medal	Senior scientist	Active AGU member	Not required to be an AGU member
Walter H. Bucher Medal	Senior scientist	Active AGU member	Not required to be an AGU member
William Bowie Medal	Senior scientist	Active AGU member	Not required to be an AGU member
Africa Award for Research Excellence in Earth or Ocean Sciences	Early career scientist	Active AGU member	(1) Not required to be an AGU member (2) nominee must be a citizen or permanent resident of countries on the African continent; (3) nominee must be no more than 10 years beyond receiving their Ph.D. or highest equivalent terminal degree from any institution (4) must be teaching and/or conducting research at an African institution and working on science related issues on Africa
Africa Award for Research Excellence in Space Science	Early career scientist	Active AGU member	(1) Not required to be an AGU member (2) nominee must be a citizen or permanent resident of countries on the African continent, and (3) nominee must be no more than 10 years beyond receiving their Ph.D. or highest equivalent terminal degree from an African institution.
Ambassador Award	Early career, mid-career, or senior scientist	Ambassador Award recipients	(1) Must be an Ambassador award recipient. (2) Not required to be an AGU member
Athelstan Spilhaus Award	Early career, mid-career, or senior scientist	Active AGU member	Not required to be an AGU member
Award for Advancing Inclusive Excellence in STEM	Open	Active AGU member	(1) Not required to be an AGU member (2) Nominee can be an individual or team
Charles S. Falkenberg Award	Early career or mid-career scientist	Active AGU member	(1) Not required to be an AGU member (2) Nominee should be within 15 years of receiving their highest terminal degree or under 45 years of age as of 1 January of the year of presentation.
David Perlman Award for Excellence in Science Journalism-News	Journalist	Open to self-nominators and the public	Open to journalists working in any medium, except books
Edward A. Flinn III Award	Mid-career or senior scientist	Active AGU members	(1) Not required to be an AGU member (2) nominee can be an individual or small group
Excellence in Earth and Space Science Education Award	Mid-career or senior scientist	Active AGU member	(1) Not required to be an AGU member. (2) The nominee can be an individual, team, or group.
International Award	Mid-career or senior scientist	Active AGU member	(1) Not required to be an AGU member. (2) The nominee can be an individual scientist, small team, or group.
Lifetime Achievement Award for Diversity and Inclusion	Nominee must be experienced and an established leader in their field	Active AGU member	Not required to be an AGU member
Robert C. Cowen Award for Sustained Achievement in Science Journalism	Journalist	The public	Open to science journalists
Science for Solutions Award	Student or postdoctoral scientist	Active AGU member	(1) The nominee is not required to be an AGU member (2) The nominee must be a current student or postdoctoral scientist who is within three years of receiving their Ph.D.
Spilhaus Ambassador Award Grant	Early career, mid-career, or senior scientist	Open to the public	Open to past Ambassador Award recipients.
Waldo E. Smith Award	Senior scientist	Active AGU member	Not required to be an AGU member
Walter Sullivan Award for Excellence in Science Journalism-Features	Journalist	Open to self-nominators and the public	Open to journalists working in any medium, except books
William Kaula Award	Senior scientist	Active AGU member	The nominee is not required to be an AGU member.
Pavel S. Molchanov Climate Communications Prize	Early career, mid-career, or senior scientist	Open to the public	The nominee must be a scientist.
Open Science Recognition Prize	Open	Open to the public; self-nominations are allowed	The nominee can be an individual or team.
The Asahiko Taira International Scientific Ocean Drilling Research Prize	Early career or mid-career scientist	Open to the public	(1) Not required to be an AGU member. (2) The nominee must be an active early career or mid-career scientist within 15 years of receiving their Ph.D. of any discipline. (3) The nominee must be making an impact in ocean drilling.

Union Medals, Awards, and Prizes nomination timeline

Date	Stage of the nomination cycle process
18 January	Union Medals, Awards, and Prizes nomination period opens.
12 April	Union Medals, Awards, and Prizes nomination period closes.
10 May -23 June	Union Medals, Awards, and Prizes selection committees review nomination packages.
30 June	Union Medals, Awards, and Prizes selection committees recommendation reports due.
1 August	Council Leadership Team (CLT) meets to review and certify the Union Medals, Awards, and Prizes selection committees recommendations for the 2023 recipients.
13 September	The 2023 Union Medal, Award, and Prize recipients are announced.
13 December	AGU Honors Ceremony at the Fall Meeting.

Submissions

Nominations are now closed. The 2024 nomination cycle will open in January.

Email Staff

Ocean with beautiful sunray sky reflecting on water

Nomination package requirements

Your nomination package should contain the following files, which should be no more than two pages in length per document:

Nomination letter
Nominee’s curriculum vitae
Nominee’s selected bibliography with a brief introductory summary (no more than one paragraph). The Education, International, Kaula and Spilhaus awards do not require a selected bibliography as part of the nomination process.
Three letters of support (in addition to the nomination letter). Please refer to the AGU Honors Conflict of Interest Policy before selecting supporters.

For detailed information on nomination requirements, please view the AGU Union Awards, Medals, and Prizes frequently asked questions (FAQs). You can submit nominations by using the online submission system. If a nomination package requires revision, please send the revised document(s) electronically, in either .pdf or .doc format to the Union Awards, Medals and Honors Program.