Oana-Alexandra Dumitru
University of Florida

Gabriela Aylin Farfan
Smithsonian Institute

2024 Doris M. Curtis Outstanding Woman in Science Award

Dr. Oana A. Dumitru's groundbreaking contributions to geosciences make her a distinguished recipient of the Doris M. Curtis Outstanding Woman in Science Award. Her innovative research, particularly her pioneering use of the U/Pb method to date cave deposits, has significantly advanced our understanding of sea-level changes. Her doctoral work provided the most precise estimate of Pliocene sea levels, crucial for predicting future ice sheet melting and climate change impacts. She continues to refine estimates of past sea levels through the analysis of fossil corals and cave deposits.

Beyond her scientific achievements, Dr. Dumitru's commitment to diversity and inclusion is evident through her initiatives supporting underrepresented students in geochronology. Her dedication to fostering a diverse scientific community, coupled with her exceptional research contributions, exemplifies the spirit of the Doris M. Curtis Award. Dr. Dumitru's work continues to inspire and advance the geosciences, making her a deserving honoree for this prestigious recognition.

I am deeply honored and humbled to accept the 2024 Doris M. Curtis Outstanding Woman in Science Award, and I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to be recognized among such esteemed peers and leaders in the field. Receiving this award is not only a personal achievement but also a testament to the support I have received from my mentors and collaborators. I extend a special thank you to my PhD advisor, Bogdan Onac, for his exceptional mentorship, unwavering guidance throughout my academic journey, and the nomination for this award. His encouragement and his continuous support have been instrumental in shaping my research and development as a scientist.

I am also profoundly grateful to Jacky Austerman, Maureen Raymo, Yemane Asmerom, Victor Polyak, and Steve Goldstein who have all provided support and mentorship to me in various ways. They are incredible role models who inspired me and helped to shape me into the scientist I am today. I feel incredibly fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with and learn from them and I look forward to continuing our research on climate and sea level changes alongside such wonderful people. Thank you to GSA for this recognition!

I am honored to introduce Gabriela Farfan as the 2024 Doris M. Curtis Outstanding Woman in Science awardee. Gabriela is a brilliant mineralogist and geochemist, who explores the biogenic and abiogenic processes involved in the formation and dissolution of minerals. Gabriela received her PhD in the WHOI-MIT Joint Program, where she explored the role of climate change and anthropogenic stressors on coral biominerals. Gabriela conducted novel mineralogical and chemical characterization of juvenile and adult corals, spanning shallow tropical reefs to the temperate deep-sea communities. To characterize these biominerals that spanned a range of crystallinities and compositions, she utilized sophisticated microscopic and spectroscopic techniques, including X-ray Diffraction Rietveld refinements, X-ray absorption spectroscopy, and coupled synchrotron based micro-fluorescence and micro-spectroscopy. Her work provided essential insight into the controls on coral skeletal aragonite structure and composition, including changes in crystallinity as a function of saturation state. Now as a research geologist and group leader at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Gabriela continues to make important advances in environmental mineralogy and biomineralization spanning a wide diversity of organisms, processes, and environments. In addition to being a productive and accomplished researcher, Gabriela is a devoted mentor and educator, creative and engaging spokesperson for geological research and exploration, and role model for women and underrepresented groups in the sciences. Please join me in congratulating Gabriela on this well-deserved recognition!

It is an immense honor to be named a Doris M. Curtis Outstanding Woman in Science and to be joining the ranks of the amazing scientists that have received this award. Thank you very much to the Geological Society of America and the selection committee for this distinction.

I owe my career as a geologist and mineralogist to the incredible mentorship that I have received over the past twenty years from my role models, advisors, and peers, including Huifang Xu, Wendy Mao, Cara Santelli, Richard Slaughter, Jeffrey Post, Gordon Brown, Barbara Dutrow, and my colleagues at the Smithsonian NMNH Department of Mineral Sciences. I would especially like to thank my brilliant Ph.D. advisor, Colleen Hansel, for her coaching and continued support over the years. Finally, thank you to my parents, Carlos and Abigail, my friends, and natural history museums, for sparking and nurturing my love of science.