Christian Teyssier

The 2026 Marie Tharp Medal is awarded to Christian Teyssier in light of profound and lasting contributions to the field, dedication to advancing geoscience, and commitment to mentoring the next generation of scientists.

It is with great enthusiasm that we recommend Christian Teyssier for the 2026 Marie Tharp Medal in recognition of his remarkable scientific excellence and enduring impact on Earth sciences. Over a distinguished four-decade career, Teyssier has made transformative contributions to structural geology and tectonics. His pioneering research has significantly advanced our understanding of tectonic processes, encompassing the full spectrum from brittle to ductile deformation, from extensional to convergent regimes and from the mineralogical scale to orogenic systems. Teyssier’s work has fundamentally reshaped how the scientific community views lithospheric processes, offering new perspectives on deformation mechanisms from minerals to mountains and from subduction zones to orogens, spanning diverse temperature, depth, and deformation conditions. Perhaps most notably, Teyssier’s integrative approach has transcended disciplinary boundaries and inspired a system-level understanding of the lithosphere—ranging from mantle to surface, from grain-scale mechanics to mountain-scale evolution—grounded in rigorous investigations of the physics and chemistry of Earth materials.

Beyond his outstanding scientific achievements, Teyssier has also left an extraordinary legacy as a mentor and educator, having trained and inspired countless geoscientists, many of whom are now influential leaders in their own right. In light of his profound and lasting contributions to the field, his dedication to advancing geoscience, and his commitment to mentoring the next generation of scientists, Christian Teyssier is most deserving of the EGU 2026 Marie Tharp Medal.