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| The Vetlesen
Medal |
Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
and the G. Unger Vetlesen Foundation will award the 2004
Vetlesen Prize, considered among the most prestigious of
earth sciences awards, to Professors Richard Peltier and
Sir Nicholas Shackleton. The prize carries a cash value
of $200,000 to be split between the honorees.
The Vetlesen Prize is administered
by Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
and is granted for revolutionary scientific achievements
resulting in a clearer understanding of the Earth, its
history, or its relationship to the universe.
"Since the first Vetlesen Prize was
awarded in 1960, Columbia has been proud to administer
this high achievement, said Lee C. Bollinger, President
of Columbia University." The caliber of scientists nominated
globally for the 2004 award stands as a testament to
Professors Peltier and Shackleton, whose body of research
and contributions to our knowledge on climate change
are revolutionizing scientific inquiry in this important
area."
The Vetlesen Prize is generally awarded
every two years. The selection process includes a five-member
jury, appointed by the President of Columbia University.
"This years recipients are responsible
for profound achievements in what may be the 21st century's
most germane and crucial discipline of earth sciences — climate
change," said G. Michael Purdy, Director of Lamont-Doherty
Earth Observatory. "It is with great honor and deep respect
that we announce Professors Peltier and Shackleton as
the 2004 Vetlesen Prize recipients."
Professor W. Richard Peltier, Department
of Physics at the University of Toronto, is being awarded
the 2004 Vetlesen Prize for developing a series of increasingly
more accurate techniques that reconstruct the distribution
and thickness of continental ice sheets during the ice
age. The method he pioneered integrates a variety of
geological, geophysical, and geodetic data with global
coverage to predict the original ice distribution using
knowledge of the viscous and elastic response of Earth
to surface loads on 10,000-year time scales. These reconstructions
are now the standard used in most studies designed to
understand large past climate changes and to test the
predictive powers of future climate scenarios. Peltier
also is being recognized for the great breadth of his
achievements in the geosciences, including his path breaking
work in atmospheric sciences, geodynamics, and ocean
circulation.
Professor Sir Nicholas Shackleton,
Godwin Institute for Quaternary Research at the University
of Cambridge, is being awarded the 2004 Vetlesen Prize
for far-reaching contributions to our understanding of
the history of the Earth's climate system, playing a
leadership role in a major revolution in the geologic
sciences. He is a leader in elucidating the connection
between climate and geologic processes through a remarkable
ability to collect and interpret data from ocean sediments.
His vastly significant contributions to climate sciences
include the development of techniques that have led to
our understanding of ice sheet fluctuations and the connection
of climate to variations in the Earth's orbit, and the
clarification of long-standing puzzles about the behavior
of large ice sheets and carbon dioxide concentration
changes.
The first Vetlesen Prize was awarded
in 1960 to the first director and founder of Lamont-Doherty
Earth Observatory (LDEO) at Columbia University, Maurice
Ewing. There have been 22 esteemed recipients since
then, including Lynn Sykes of LDEO, Walter Pitman
of LDEO, W. Jason Morgan of Princeton University,
Walter Munk of the University of California, San Diego
(UCSD), Wallace S. Broecker, LDEO, Harmon Craig, UCSD,
and William A. Fowler of Caltech.
For more information on the Vetlesen
Prize and the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia
University, visit http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/vetlesen/ |
