Joint Program Alumni Awards

	Enlarge ImageJun Korenaga, Badlands
	Claudia Benitez-Nelson

Jun Korenaga honored by American Geophysical Union

Jun Korenaga, Assistant Professor in the Department of Geology and Geophysics at Yale University, was awarded the 2006 James B. Macelwane Medal from the American Geophysical Union.  Korenaga's research focuses on the chemical and thermal evolution of the Earth, and the relation between terrestrial magmatism and mantle convection.

Korenaga, who received his MIT/WHOI Joint Program doctoral degree in February 2000, was advised by Tom Jordan and Peter Kelemen.  His thesis title was Magmatism and Dynamics of Continental Breakup in the Presence of a Mantle Plume.

This honor recognizes significant contributions to the geophysical sciences by an "outstanding" young scientist less than 36 years of age.  The award was established in 1961 and renamed in 1986 in honor of James B. Macelwane, a seismologist at Saint Louis University renowned not just for his contributions to geophysics but also for his deep interest in teaching and encouraging young scientists.

http://earth.geology.yale.edu/~jk525/

Claudia Benitez-Nelson awarded AGU Early Career Award

Claudia Benitez-Nelson, Assistant Professor in the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of South Carolina, was awarded the 2006 Early Career Award from the American Geophysical Union (AGU).  Benitez-Nelson’s research focuses on understanding the biogeochemical cycling of Phosphorus (P) in the ocean and what controls particle formation and organic Carbon (C) fluxes from the surface ocean to the deep floor.

Benitez-Nelson, who received her MIT/WHOI Joint Program doctoral degree in February 1999, was advised by Ken Buesseler and Dave Glover.  Her thesis title was Phosphorus Cycling in the Gulf of Maine: A Multi-Tracer Approach.

The Early Career Award is given to a member of the Ocean Sciences Section in recognition of significant contributions to and promise in the ocean sciences.  The awardee must be in the first eight post-doctoral degree years of his/her career.The award is given at the Fall Meeting every other year.  The award includes a grant for travel to AGU meetings funded by the contributions of members of the Ocean Sciences Section.

http://www.geol.sc.edu/cbnelson/index.htm