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GSA Student Award named for professor Farouk El-Baz

 

farouksmThe Geological Society of America (GSA) Foundation has established the “Farouk El-Baz Student Award” to encourage and promote desert research in the broadest sense. “Deserts have received far less attention than other types of landforms in geological studies. This award will encourage more students to pursue investigations of arid lands, which constitute over one-third of the land surface of our planet,” said El-Baz.

 

The award fund of $100,000.00 was generously provided by the Qatar Foundation as an endowment. It will be considered principal and only income will be disbursed as awards; the GSA Foundation will accept and acknowledge additional contributions to the fund. Up to 2 students will be awarded $2,500 each, based on a proposal for arid land research and a recommendation by an advisor. Recipients will be selected from a special Committee appointed by the GSA International Division.

 

In 1999, the GSA Foundation established the “Farouk El-Baz Award for Desert Research,” to award excellence in arid land studies. An annual distribution of $10,000.00 has been awarded to leading experts in desert research from the international scientific community. The new award is designed to encourage students to enter the field of desert study.

 

The Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development is a private, chartered, non-profit organization. It was founded in 1995 by the Emir of the State of Qatar to develop centers for progressive education, research and community welfare. It is chaired by H.H. Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned, consort of the Emir of Qatar.

 

The Geological Society of America is a non-profit, professional organization with over 20,000 members in 85 countries. Among its aims is the promotion of the geosciences in the service of humanity. Its awards are managed by the GSA Foundation at 330 Penrose Place, Boulder, CO 80301, U.S.A.

 

Dr. El-Baz, a veteran of NASA’s Apollo program, is Research Professor and Director of the Boston University Center for Remote Sensing. He is renowned for pioneering research in the applications of satellite images to study deserts worldwide, with emphasis on the location of groundwater resources. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering and serves on its committee to identify “Grand Challenges for Engineering” in the next century.

 

RohrmannGSA Student Award won by Alexander Rohrmann

 

University of Arizona Geosciences student Alexander Rohrmann, is the recipient of the first Farouk El-Baz Student Research Award from the Geological Society of America, to encourage and promote desert research.

 

GSA will present him with an award check, a certificate, and a ribbon at the GSA Annual Meeting in Houston on October 6. chainmore info and comments

 

goldsteelearthglobe1 More info about the Farouk Student Award

GSA and GSAF leadership responses:

Former GSA President - Stephen G. Wells

 

"The Geological Society of America is very excited about this new award and the scientific contributions to desert science it will support," said Dr. Stephen G. Wells, GSA President and President of the Desert Research Institute, Nevada System of Higher Education. "We are deeply grateful for the generosity of the Qatar Foundation and for the leadership of its chair, H.H. Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned. We are also very appreciative of the remarkable efforts of Dr. El-Baz, a trustee of the Geological Society of America Foundation, in advancing and promoting desert research by GSA members."

Former GSAF Chair - Robert D. Hatcher, Jr.

 

Robert D. Hatcher, Jr. described Dr. El Baz as, "An internationally known geoscientist whose goal is to better understand desert landforms and the processes that create them.  Besides being an outstanding scientist, Dr. El Baz is a person of great integrity, and this endowment from the Qatar Foundation is a symbol of both his scientific prowess and a desire to return some of his success to his professional community.  I cannot think of a better way to honor him and his professional accomplishments than through an endowment that will encourage future generations of students to enter geoscience careers in desert research."

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gsaf@geosociety.org item2a(800) 472-1988 x 1054item2bGSAF - P.O. Box 9140 - Boulder, CO 80301

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