Arthur L. Day Prize and Lectureship

The Arthur L. Day Prize and Lectureship is awarded to a scientist making lasting contributions to the study of the physics of the Earth and whose lectures will provide solid, timely, and useful additions to the knowledge and literature in the field.  The nominee should also be a good speaker with the ability to summarize and synthesize current knowledge in the field. For the Day Prize, “physics of the earth” encompass a number of subdisciplines of geology, oceanography, and hydrology, including, among others, geochemistry, meteorology, petrology, forestry, and atmospherics. The recipient is awarded a $50,000 prize and funds from the Arthur L. Day Bequest to present a series of Day Lectures.

Roland Bürgmann, University of California at Berkeley, will receive the 2026 Arthur L. Day Prize and Lectureship.

Bürgmann’s work has transformed our understanding of how the lower crust and upper mantle respond to large stress changes from earthquakes.

His landmark contributions shed light on the physics of the Earth, from lithospheric rheology and the earthquake cycle to hydrogeodesy, slow fault slip, and natural hazards. By integrating geodesy, satellite remote sensing, and field observations, Bürgmann has revealed how tectonic stresses accumulate and are released through faulting and crustal deformation.

He pioneered the use of precise geodetic measurements to combine with geological and seismological measurements to advance earthquake hazard assessment and improve understanding of plate boundary processes. These tools have also enabled studies of the dynamics of landslides, land subsidence and volcanic processes.

Bürgmann is a dedicated leader and inspiring mentor to the next generation of Earth scientists, with landmark publications widely cited across geophysics, seismology, hydrology, and hazard science.

Watch him receive the award online during the 163rd NAS Annual Meeting on April 26th.

Arthur L. Day Lectureship

Jerry X. Mitrovica presented two 2023 Arthur L. Day Prize Lectures on “Taking the Fingerprints of Global Sea Level Change.” Sea level changes vary dramatically in both time and space. A major reason for this is that melting of each ice sheet and glacier involves a unique and counterintuitive geometry, or “fingerprint”, of sea level change. In this talk, Dr. Mitrovica described these fingerprints and discuss how they have been detected in satellite measurement of sea level change and why they will key to improving projections of sea level change in our progressively warming world.

The first lecture was at Howard Unviersity on March 21 at 1:00 pm Eastern.  The second lecture was held at Spelman University on April 14th at 6:00 pm Eastern.

Linda T. Elkins-Tanton, the 2020 Arthur L. Day Prize and Lectureship recipient, presented the 2023 Day Prize Lecture “The NASA Psyche Mission: An Electric Journey to a Metal World” at the University of New Mexico on February 24 and South Carolina State University on April 13. Elkins-Tanton discussed her NASA mission to explore Psyche. Exploration of this asteroid marks an important first for humankind: We have sent people or robots to explore rocky bodies, like the Moon and Mars, and icy ones, like Europa and Enceladus, and gas-rich bodies like Jupiter, but never a body made mostly of metal.

Susan Solomon, the 2017 Arthur L. Day Prize and Lectureship recipient, presented the 2018 Day Prize Lecture “A Brief History of Environmental Successes” at Bryn Mawr College. Solomon also explored how the lessons learned help us understand how to better manage today’s environmental problems, including climate change.

Richard B. Alley, the 2014 recipient of the Arthur L. Day Prize and Lectureship, presented a series of five lectures on a variety of topics including climate change, energy, and the environment at locations throughout the United States.