Dr. Lisa Tauxe is a preeminent contributor to understanding long-term intensity variations of Earth’s magnetic field. Geomagnetic variations are critical to constraining our understanding of the workings of the deep Earth dynamo that drives the field and for understanding Earth evolution. Her massive published oeuvre focuses mainly on issues related to obtaining paleointensity data from igneous rocks, sediments and archaeological materials; developing new methods to estimate paleointensities rigorously; developing statistical data analysis approaches; assessing expected geomagnetic field properties with data; seeking to understand long-term field evolution; and understanding magnetic recording by minerals.

Paleointensity is the most difficult paleomagnetic parameter to estimate because it is recorded accurately only by magnetically stable particles and because of mineral alteration during the multiple heatings used to extract data. Her approach has challenged the research community to greater rigor and has inspired greater discretion in data gathering and analysis so that we are experiencing a modern surge in high-quality data acquisition.

Throughout her career, Dr. Tauxe has also advocated for, and practiced, open science. She produces open-source software to enable others to interpret data as rigorously as she does and has been a driver behind the Magnetics Information Consortium (MagIC) database. Open-access dissemination of her lectures and latest book are further altruistic efforts to pass on her knowledge to others, usually students, with global impact.

Dr. Tauxe has an extensive professional service record, particularly to AGU, for which she has served as president-elect and president of the AGU Geomagnetism, Paleomagnetism, and Electromagnetism section; on the AGU Board and Executive Committee as general secretary/treasurer of AGU; and as chair of AGU’s Publications Committee, Audit Committee and Investment Committee, to mention only her major roles. She has served as associate editor for AGU journals and other important journals, which facilitates publication of the work of others.

In addition to her technical leadership in her fields of research, Dr. Tauxe seeks to build the careers of the next generation of researchers, including women and minority researchers within and outside of her own research group. For the distinguished breadth and depth of her many contributions to paleomagnetism and geomagnetism and for leadership of her research field, which has had extensive and fundamental impact in the Earth sciences, Dr. Lisa Tauxe is a much-deserving recipient of the 2024 AGU John Adam Fleming Medal.

—Andrew Roberts
Australian National University
Canberra, Australia