Washington DC- Isotope geochemist Marilyn Fogel, who spent 33 years as a staff scientist at Carnegie’s former Geophysical Laboratory, now part of the institution’s Earth and Planets Laboratory, has been chosen to receive the highest honor of the Geochemical Society, the Victor Moritz Goldschmidt Prize, in recognition of his many and varied contributions to the field.
“Marilyn has had a profound and lasting impact on important issues in Earth and planetary sciences. His work at Carnegie still resonates in our halls and will continue to do so for decades to come,” said Carnegie President Eric D. Isaacs. “Congratulations to Marilyn for this well-deserved honor.”
Marilyn uses isotopes to trace biogeochemical events over time and reveal information about biological and geological activity, including climate, migration, meteorite processes, and diet. His work crosses disciplinary and geographic boundaries – taking him from ice fields to the tropics to deserts – to probe the origin of life on our planet and understand how it interacts with geological forces, as well as what that this can teach us about how to look for life signatures on other worlds. Fogel’s collaborators over the decades represent a wide range of expertise, including a stint as a visiting scientist in Carnegie’s Department of Plant Biology.
She has also been a tireless mentor to generations of early career scientists – high school and undergraduate trainees, graduate students and postdocs. Her approach inspires others to think broadly and creatively about research and embrace new ways of solving problems.
“Marilyn’s research career has been remarkably productive. His work has touched so many fields, from paleoecology to climate change to astrobiology, and so many people at all stages of their careers,” said Michael Walter, director of the Earth and Planets Laboratory. “This award is recognition of his legacy of excellence in broad swaths of the scientific enterprise.”
Staff Scientist Andrew Steele added long-time collaborator and friend Andrew Steele: “Not only is Marilyn responsible for far-reaching scientific breakthroughs, but her originality, mentorship and enthusiasm for her science those who interacted with her, at whatever level, a better scientist. . She also carried the torch of women scientists for many years, as evidenced by the large scientific family she nurtured and nurtured to success. ”
After earning a Ph.D. in Botany and Marine Science from the University of Texas at Austin, Fogel joined Carnegie as a Carnegie Corporation Fellow in 1977. Two years later, she became a staff scientist, a position she held until 2012 , at which time she left to become chair of the Life and Environmental Sciences Unit at UC Merced School of Natural Sciences. In 2016, she was appointed director of the EDGE (Environmental Dynamics & Geo-Ecology) institute at UC Riverside.
She is a Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Geophysical Union, and the Geochemical Society, which also awarded her the Alfred Treibs Medal in 2013.