Previous Nevada Medal Winners
2008 - Dr. James E. Hansen, Director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies
Dr. Hansen has studied the effects of greenhouse gases (GHGs) on Earth's climate throughout most of his illustrious career. Through his development and application of global models to explore the potential climate effects of unchecked increases in GHG concentrations, Dr. Hansen has become one of the most prominent and recognizable scientific spokespersons on the topic of climate change. His scientific publications, testimony before congressional committees, media interactions, and other means, have established him as a consistent voice warning about the potential effects of climate change and calling for directed approaches to reduce GHG emissions.
2007 - Dr. Susan Lindquist, Member, Whitehead Institute and Professor of Biology, MIT
Dr. Lindquist's work has had an enormous impact in fields as diverse as medicine, bioengineering, basic molecular and cell biology, and evolution. The underlying theme of her multifaceted work is protein folding and misfolding. Proteins are the basis of how biology gets things done. They start out in the body as long strings of amino acids and have to assemble themselves into complex shapes (a process scientists call folding) before they can do anything. They are the main constituent of our bones, muscles, hair, skin, and blood vessels. What happens if proteins don’t fold correctly? When proteins misfold, they can clump together, and the clumps can often gather in the brain, where they are believed to cause the symptoms of Mad Cow or Alzheimer’s disease. Cystic fibrosis, an inherited form of emphysema, and even many cancers are also believed to result from protein misfolding. For her many achievements as one of the greatest and most creative molecular biologist of her generation, Dr. Lindquist will be honored at the annual dinner events in Reno and Las Vegas.2006 - Dr. Walter Alvarez, Professor of the Earth and Planetary Sciences department of the University of California, Berkeley
Alvarez is a geologist who considers himself an Earth historian, and is fascinated by the challenge of reading the history of our planet recorded in rocks.
In 1980, he was working with colleagues, including his father, physicist Luis Alvarez, on an expedition in Italy. There, he accidentally discovered a band of sedimentary rock that contained unusually high levels of a rare element, iridium. Chemical dating techniques put the rock at around 65 million years old. Coincidentally -- or not, that is around the time the dinosaurs died out. Alvarez hypothesized that the iridium, which was in a very even, widespread distribution (not just in Italy), was the result of a giant asteroid that hit Earth, sending smoke, dust, and iridium into the atmosphere. That smokescreen blocked the sun, lowering the earth's temperature, killing plants (but not seeds or roots), and eventually many species of animals, including dinosaurs. The plant-eaters died out first, followed by the meat-eaters who would have eaten them. Smaller mammals and birds could survive the cold, desolate period because of their fur, feathers, and ability to eat seeds, roots, and decaying vegetation. The pollution eventually settled to the ground, forming a thin layer of iridium.
In addition to his interest in extinction events and impacts, Alvarez has contributed to the understanding of Mediterranean tectonics, Roman geology and archeology, and the establishment of magnetostratigraphic correlations.
2005 - Dr. Donald K. Grayson, Professor of Anthropology and Adjunct Professor, Quaternary Sciences Center, University of Washington
Professor Donald K. Grayson is widely recognized and honored as one of the world’s foremost scientists in archaeology and paleoecology, the branch of science dealing with the interaction between ancient life forms—including humans—and their environments. Dr. Grayson’s primary areas of research concern human interaction with the landscape and using archaeological data to answer biological questions. His work has focused on the impacts prehistoric hunter-gatherer groups had on their natural landscapes and the effects such change then had on the people themselves.
Dr. Grayson has conducted landmark research in wide-ranging but related areas, making fundamental as well as innovative scientific and historical contributions in many disciplines while strongly influencing those who work in them. An anthropology professor at University of Washington, Dr. Grayson is best known for his innovative research showing that climate change—and not “overkill” by early human hunters—led to the demise of large mammals like the wooly mammoth in North America some 10,000 years ago. He was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2002. Dr. Grayson also served on DRI’s National Scientific Advisory Board.
2004 - Dr. Farouk El-Baz, Research Professor and Director, Center for Remote Sensing Boston University
Dr. Farouk El-Baz pioneered environmental remote sensing with satellites and is particularly renown for advances in understanding of the origin and evolution of desert landforms. Professor El-Baz defined the role of alternating wet and dry climate cycles in desert regions and the processes that control the accumulation of desert ground water. He also led the selection of landing sites for NASA's Apollo moon missions and was principal investigator in the joint American-Soviet Apollo-Soyuz Test Project emphasizing the imaging of arid environments from space.
A member of the National Academy of Engineering, Dr. El-Baz’s present research involves satellite analysis of ground water potential in arid eastern Arabia, particularly in the Sultanate of Oman and the United Arab Emirates. Former science advisor to the late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, Professor El-Baz has worked extensively in the region to identify areas suitable for development outside the Nile Valley. In 1999, the Geological Society of America established the annual "Farouk El-Baz Award for Desert Research," in his honor. Professor El-Baz has received many national and international awards and has authored nearly 600 publications and presentations and a dozen books. Through his exceptional ability to communicate his research, Farouk El-Baz has touched and influenced an extraordinarily broad segment of the science community as well as the general public.
2003 - Dr. Charles Goldman, Professor of Limnology, Director, Tahoe Research Group, University of California, Davis.
Dr. Charles Goldman’s pioneering research has focused on the factors that affect the clarity of the world’s fresh water lakes. As director of the Tahoe Research Group for the University of California at Davis, Professor Goldman has documented the steady decline in clarity of Lake Tahoe’s legendary blue waters for more than forty years. His persistent efforts to attract state and federal attention on the issues threatening the lakes played a central role in the dramatic resurgence of Tahoe Basin research in the mid 1990s.
Professor Goldman's research of freshwater lakes has emphasized the biological, chemical and physical interactions between the surrounding watersheds and lakes. Particular emphasis has been on eutrophication of lakes, nutrient limiting factors, and the impact of climate and weather. He has also advanced the use and significance of long term data sets in environmental research, utilizing nearly four decades of research on Castle Lake and Lake Tahoe in California. The core of his research has been directed towards a better understanding of lake processes and measures to preserve the water quality of lakes, which has included seven research expedition to Lake Baikal in Russia.
2002 - Dr. M. Gordon “Reds” Wolman, Professor of Geography and Environmental Engineering, Johns Hopkins University
Few scientists have influenced their field more profoundly than Professor M. Gordon "Reds" Wolman. Long before the first Earth Day, Dr. Woman began integrating the issues of land use, water quality, and the natural processes that shape the Earth’s surface into an enlightening environmental perspective. A Professor of Geography and Environmental Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, Wolman’s research has focused on the relative roles of human and natural forces in shaping the land and influencing water quality. His professional and policy interests have been fostered by field work and exposure to resource issues in the West and his work has provided the basis for current national environmental policy.
A member of the National Academy of Sciences, Prof. Wolman received the American Geological Institute’s most prestigious award, the Ian Campbell Medal, in 1997, and the Geological Society of America’s highest award, the Penrose Medal, in 1992. He served as president of the society in 1984, and of the American Geophysical Union’s Hydrology Section from 1970 to 1972. He won the American Geophysical Union’s Robert Horton Award in 2000.
2001 - Dr. John H. Seinfeld, Louis E. Nohl Professor and former chair (dean) of the California Institute of Technology's Division of Engineering and Applied Science
In 1972, Prof. Seinfeld created the first computer model that could incorporate the incredibly complex variables that contribute to local air quality conditions. Today, every U.S. city uses the descendants of his model to describe and forecast potential air pollution threats and to design strategies to preserve air quality. Prof. Seinfeld continues to lead scientists and regulators on a variety of local and national challenges. His current interests range from the surface of the planet to the very edge of its atmospheric blanket, and encompass topics from ozone and acid rain to climate change and global warming. In 1982 at age 39, Prof. Seinfeld was one of the youngest person ever elected to the National Academy of Engineering. He has published more than 300 papers and four critically acclaimed books, including the textbook, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics: From Air Pollution to Climate Change, considered the basic worldwide reference on air pollution.
2000 - Dr. Harold Mooney, Paul S. Achilles Professor of Environmental Biology of Stanford
Stanford Biologist Harold A. Mooney, internationally recognized for his pioneering role in developing the field of plant physiological ecology. Mooney's research established new conceptual approaches for analyzing how plants and plant communities respond to their environment, and provided a direct method of understanding environmental change and the impacts of natural and human influences. In recent years Mooney has provided leadership to the global scientific community in providing scientific guidance in the formulation of environmental policies, particularly in the areas of biodiversity and global climate change.
1999 - Dr. Wallace Broecker, Newberry Professor of Geology at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
Dr. Broecker tied variations in the global transport of heat energy by great ocean currents to abrupt shifts of the Earth's climate in the past. His research has shown the susceptibility of this climate change mechanism to the influence of increasing greenhouse gases.
1998 - Dr. Lynn Margulis, Distinguished Professor of Microbiology at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Dr. Margulis is internationally known for her research on the evolution of the small forms of life, including the role of bacteria in influencing and regulating biological processes and environmental conditions. She holds a prestigious Distinguished University Professorship on the Amherst campus in Massachusetts, and has been a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences since 1983.
1997 - Dr. F. Sherwood Rowland, Bren Professor of Chemistry, University of California, Irvine.
Atmospheric chemist whose 1974 discovery that CFCs were depleting the earth's protective ozone layer prompted adoption of the Montreal Protocol to ban production of these substances. His research has continued to contribute significantly in the areas of urban ozone pollution and the impact of methane and other green house gases on global climate.
1996 - Dr. Hector F. DeLuca, Harry Steenbock Research Professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Pioneer and preeminent authority of the modern era of vitamin D research His pioneering research on vitamin D, especially his discovery and characterization of the vitamin D metabolites and the biochemical definition of the vitamin D endocrine system, has yielded effective new therapeutic agents for the treatment of several important diseases.
1995 - Dr. Charles Elachi, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Cal-Tech
Pivotal scientific leader in the development of spaceborneradar technologies that provide exceptional environmental and geologic information about the earth and other planets and moons in the solar system.
1994 - Dr. John N. Bahcall, Inst. for Advances Studies, Princeton, NJ (deceased 2005)
Astrophysicist who shepherded the Hubble Space Telescope project for more than two decades, and contributed fundamental advances in the understanding of neutrinos emitted from the core of stars. Dr. John Bahcall died on August 17, 2005 at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell hospital. He was 70.
1993 - Dr. Margaret Bryan Davis, University of Minnesota
Paleoecologist whose inovative analytical approach overturned scientific assumptions about how environments respond to climate change.
1992 - Dr. Carl Djerassi, Stanford University
Achieved major advances in our understanding of hormones in animal biochemistry and developed the chemical base for the first oral contraceptive.
1991 - Dr. Benoit Mandelbrot, Watkins Research Center, IBM
Introduced fractal geometry and "The Mandelbrot Set" to art, mathematics and science.
1990 - Dr. James A. Van Allen, University of Iowa (deceased 2006)
Discoverer of the "Van Allen Radiation Belt" surrounding the Earth and a pioneer in the use of unmanned probes for space exploration. Dr. James A. Van Allen died on August 9, 2006 of heart failure at the University of Iowa Hospital. He was 91.
1989 - Dr. Dwight Billings, Duke University (deceased 1997)
A former Nevada professor who is regarded as the "father" of plant physiological ecology that is now a guiding principle for the study of ecological systems. Dr. Dwight Billings died in his home on January 4, 1997. He was 87.
1988 - Dr. Verner Suomi, University of Wisconsin (deceased 1995)
Developer of the "spin-scan" weather camera that provided the first satellite photos for TV weather and an extraordinary breakthrough in weather forecasting and analysis. Dr. Verner E. Suomi died after a long battle with heart disease on July 30, 1995, at University Hospital at the age of 79.
For Further Information contact:
The Nevada Medal Selection Committee
Desert Research Institute
755 E. Flamingo Road
Las Vegas, Nevada 89119-7363
Email:Chris.Maples@dri.edu