Three UCSB professors have been elected Fellows of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) this year, including our own Oliver Chadwick; Affiliated Faculty member John Melack, Chair of the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management and professor in the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology; and Ralph Archuleta, Chair of the Department of Earth Science and a member of the Earth Research Institute.
The AGU has over 60,000 members representing 148 countries and “was established in 1919 by the National Research Council and for more than 50 years operated as an unincorporated affiliate of the National Academy of Sciences…The Union is dedicated to the furtherance of the geophysical sciences through the individual efforts of its members and in cooperation with other national and international scientific organizations…To be elected a Fellow of AGU is a special tribute for those who have made exceptional scientific contributions. Nominated Fellows must have attained acknowledged eminence in the Earth and space sciences. This designation is conferred upon not more than 0.1% of all AGU members in any given year” (AGU web site).
Professor Chadwick is a joint professor in the Geography Department and Environmental Studies Program at UCSB, specializing in the areas of soil sciences, soil genesis and classification, advanced pedology, and soil geomorphology. Dr. Chadwick’s research interests include pedology, geomorphology, quaternary geology, soil-water-vegetation interaction and landscape relationships, and isotropic fractionations during soil evolution “He has clearly established himself as a leader in soil science, and is one of the world leaders in relating soils to ecology and earth system science. Professor Chadwick has become one of the core members of a small, but growing and extremely high quality group in ecosystem studies at UCSB” (source).
In an interview with the UCSB Office of Public Affairs (press release here), Oliver stated: “The AGU is the best home for broad interdisciplinary research in the Earth sciences. My research encompasses a number of Earth surface disciplines ranging from ecology to geomorphology and geochemistry. Typically, I present papers in the Biogeoscience section, as well as in the Earth and Planetary Surface Processes Interdisciplinary Focus Group. I am truly honored that my colleagues here at UCSB and elsewhere found it appropriate to nominate me and select me for this honor.” Other UCSB Geography Fellows of the AGU include Tommy Dickey, Jeff Dozier (Affiliated Faculty), and David Siegel.
