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About the Science Innovation Award


The EAG Science Innovation Award recognizes scientists who have recently made a particularly important and innovative breakthrough in geochemistry. The geochemical research must be highly original and contribute in a significant fashion to our understanding of the natural behavior of the Earth or planets.

The EAG Science Innovation Award is bestowed annually to a scientist within 30 years equivalent full time scientific employ from the start of PhD, which must be completed. Eligibility is determined by the status of the candidate at the close of the year in which nominations are received and not the year the award is presented; hence, for the 2024 Science Innovation Award, candidates should have started their PhD in 1993 at the earliest (but see information on career breaks here).
Nominations of underrepresented groups are encouraged.

We are committed to promoting the diversity of our awardees, to recognizing a wide range of different types of exceptional contribution, and we acknowledge the different career paths that lead to the achievement of such contributions.

The EAG Science Innovation Award subject area differs from year to year, according to the following five-year cycle:

2021 Alfred Edward “Ted” Ringwood Medal honoring his work in petrology and mineral physics

2022 Heinz Lowenstam Medal honoring his work in biogeochemistry

2023 Nicholas Shackleton Medal honoring his work in climatology

2024 Samuel Epstein Medal honoring his work in isotope geochemistry

2025 Werner Stumm Medal honoring his work in low temperature and surface geochemistry

The award is presented annually at the Goldschmidt Conference and consists of an engraved medal, an honorarium (1000 Euros), a certificate and inclusion as a Geochemistry Fellow.

Recipient of the 2023 Science Innovation Award:

Rosalind Rickaby

University of Oxford, UK

Rosalind Rickaby is a world leader in developing novel proxies from marine carbonates to reconstruct climate and, more generally, Earth’s environment over geological time. Indeed, her research has informed us about the co-evolution of the geosphere and biosphere. Read more

The 2023 EAG Science Innovation Award is named in honor of Nicholas Shackleton honoring his work in climatology.

The 2023 Science Innovation Award Lecture, “Peaking at the past controls on the production of pelagic carbonate“, was presented at the Goldschmidt2023 Conference. The recording of the lecture, including a citation by Adina Paytan, can be viewed here.

Former recipients of the Science Innovation Award