Citation by T. Mark Harrison
Brenhin Keller’s outstanding contributions to the understanding of the origin and evolution of continental lithosphere challenged long standing views of Earth history that had failed to account for secular cooling. This understanding leaves open the possibility that early Earth may have hosted widespread felsic crust, which has profound implications for terrestrial habitability. His iconoclastic and courageous way of looking at Earth history led to other breakthroughs with colleagues in understanding deep-ocean redox from the Archean to the Miocene, permitting selection between competing models for the K-T extinction, a radical reinterpretation of the Great Unconformity, and knowledge of the timing of terrestrial and lunar crust formation. His signature research style has revealed previously unappreciated links between the growth of continental crust and its coevolution with the biosphere and surface environments.
Response by C. Brenhin Keller
I’m deeply honored to receive the 2024 Donath Medal. Receiving such an award is both gratifying and humbling, and I am deeply grateful to all who have helped me along the path here—mentors, mentees, and peers. In particular, starting from the beginning, I want to thank my undergraduate advisor Sue Kay who along with her husband Bob instilled a perspective on arc processes including delamination and subduction-erosion that has been repeatedly influential throughout my career, as well as Bill White and Chris Andronicos; then in graduate school, my advisor Blair Schoene, who has been a incredible teacher, mentor, and friend, as well as Frederik Simons and many, many others. Finally, most recently, my own mentees, including, for her work on the continental crust, Gailin Pease; on mass extinctions, Alex Cox and Theo Green; on the Great Unconformity, Kalin McDannell; and my entire current research group, whose work is ongoing.