European Geosciences Union
Division on Solar-Terrestrial Sciences
President: Olga Malandraki (st@egu.eu)
Deputy President: Margit Haberreiter
(margit.haberreiter@pmodwrc.ch)
The ST Division considers all aspects of solar and heliospheric physics, specifically the solar-terrestrial connection. It covers the physical processes occurring on the Sun, in the solar wind, as well as in Earth's magnetosphere and ionosphere. Solar activity (e.g. coronal mass ejections, solar flares, solar energetic particle events) and the response of the near-Earth space environment to these solar phenomena are studied on a wide-range of temporal and spatial scales. Data analysis and interpretation of space-borne and ground-based data, as well as theoretical studies and different modeling techniques are used to better our understanding of how our local star defines the neighborhood that we live in.
The 2020 Hannes Alfvén Medal is awarded to Qiugang Zong for his outstanding contributions to the identification of the particle acceleration mechanisms in the magnetosphere and to the development of space plasma physics instrumentation.
The 2020 Division Outstanding Early Career Scientist Award is awarded to Lauri Holappa for outstanding research in the field of space climate and space weather.
The 2019 Hannes Alfvén Medal is awarded to Daniel N. Baker for outstanding, multi-faceted contributions to the near-Earth space plasma environment research and predictions, Earth’s radiation belt environment monitoring, and planetary space plasma studies.
The 2019 Julius Bartels Medal is awarded to Masatoshi Yamauchi for extraordinary work in space physics and planetary science.
The 2019 Division Outstanding Early Career Scientist Award is awarded to Chao Xiong for outstanding research on space weather effects on the thermosphere and ionosphere.
The 2019 Outstanding Student Poster and PICO (OSPP) Award is awarded to Alexander Lukin Night-side magnetopause: simultaneous observations of ARTEMIS and MMS
The region of the Earth’s atmosphere lying at altitudes between about 80 and 120 km, corresponding to the mesosphere–lower thermosphere–ionosphere (MLTI), is often referred to as the “ignorosphere”, because its observation is so challenging that only a handful of measurements of its composition, temperature and other physical parameters have been obtained over the last few decades. It is, however, a crucial region in terms of couplings between the upper atmosphere and the magnetosphere. Indeed, when charged particles precipitate from near-Earth …
Thursday 30 July marks the centennial of the birth of Marie Tharp, a pioneering geologist and cartographer whose groundbreaking scientific contributions played a key role in the eventual acceptance of the theory of plate tectonics. Tharp is best known for her detailed seafloor maps that revealed a wealth of previously unknown features, including seamounts, trenches, transform faults, and most notably, the mid-ocean ridge system.
Tharp’s story is all the more compelling due to the adversity she overcame during her career—much of it related to her gender. Because Tharp didn’t always receive credit for her work, her contributions were initially overlooked. Fortunately, Hali Felt, the author of Tharp’s biography, and others have helped correct the record. “Marie wouldn’t have chosen to experience the gender discrimination that told her the humanities were a “better fit” and forced her to work in an office rather than the field,” says Felt in a recent EGU blog, “but the result was that she found her calling closer to home, and mapped 70 percent of the Earth’s surface in the process.”
This month, EGU is celebrating Tharp’s achievements, and those of all women geoscientists, through a series of posts, including one by the Tectonics and Structural Geology Division that revisits her legacy and its importance for laying the foundations of modern geology. EGU also spoke with six researchers working in the fields of ocean science, tectonics, and mapping to ask them what Marie Tharp’s work means to them personally, as well as to the future of ocean science and tectonic research. “Her life story is a burning, guiding light for me,” says marine geographer Dawn Wright.
We hope these articles will inspire all EGU members to help one another overcome whatever adversity we face. Tharp “succeeded in building a career that she loved, and was proud of,” says structural geologist Lucia Perez Diaz. “As a woman in science, I can’t imagine a better dream to work towards.”