— Paul Mahaffy NASA Goddawrd Space Flight Center Greenbelt, Maryland

Athelstan Spilhaus was a dreamer, an inventor, a futurist and an individual with an extraordinary sense of the possible. Before penning his famous techno-utopian comic strip, he flew planes so high chasing meteorological measurements that he nearly blacked out. He took all kinds of risks — like living in a cave in China and driving from South Africa to Egypt mostly off-road. Through the Sunday funnies, he found his way into the homes of scores of children. When his academic colleagues criticized him for being undignified, he asked, “Which of you has a class of five million every Sunday morning?” Because of people like Spilhaus, the generations of scientists who followed have had far more latitude to journey outside the pages of the scientific literature. I, for one, started writing when I was a small girl. I still remember the pink diary, complete with a tiny key, that I received as a gift when I was five, around the same time I began to be fascinated by the mysteries of the natural world. I started scribbling then and have never really stopped, and I’m so glad I didn’t have to leave writing behind as I began my career as a planetary scientist. There were so many compelling and profound things about my chosen field — searching for life in the universe — that would never find expression in scientific journals. I’ve collected such things over the years, the same way I used to collect acorns and pebbles. In many ways, publishing them has felt far more scary than publishing scientific results. But I’m so glad to be part of a community where such things are no longer seen as undignified. I know there are scores of scientists who are just as deserving as me of recognition for conveying the excitement, significance and beauty of their work in Earth and space science: I have a dozen books on my bookcase, written this year alone, by scientists who have captured my imagination with their words, to say nothing of all the other forms of public engagement. Nevertheless, I’m touched to have an aspect of my work that means so much to me recognized as meaningful to others. Thank you to Paul for these exceptionally kind words; thank you to all my colleagues, students, friends and family members for supporting me; and most of all, thank you to AGU for this great honor. — Sarah Stewart Johnson Georgetown University Washington, D.C.