Dr. Elifuraha Saria is being awarded AGU’s Africa Award for Research Excellence in Earth or Ocean Science. His work is highly cited and valuable to the large community of scientists studying the East African Rift System as well as global and local reference frames.

Dr. Saria produces high-quality Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)/GPS datasets and peer-reviewed publications. Having worked with Dr. Saria for 18 years, I can attest that he has the utmost respect for individuals from all walks of life. He works diligently to mentor students of any gender without discrimination and is highly collaborative, and he is excellent to work with on papers, in the field, advising students, and with project development.

Dr. Saria has mentored over 50 master’s students and four Ph.D. students, educated more than 1,000 students in the classroom, and has spent extensive time educating villagers about a GNSS network that monitors the active volcano Ol Doinyo Lengai in Tanzania. He is highly deserving of this award because of his outstanding contributions in GPS/GNSS geodesy, tectonics, reference frames and capacity building for the African continent.

—D. Sarah Stamps
Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, Virginia