2020 Division Awards for outstanding geobiologists

Every year the GBGM (Geobiology and Geomicrobiology Division of GSA) executive committee selects exceptional scholars to receive awards for their accomplishments in research, education/mentoring, and service in geobiology. This year we had an exceptional list of nominees so thanks to all those who nominated someone!

We are pleased to announce that the 2020 awards go to Emmy Smith (pre-tenure), Greg Dick (post-tenure), and Kurt Konhauser and Will Berelson (distinguished career; we couldn't choose which one of these guys was the most deserving... so we just decided to have two awards this year) Please check out their brief biographies below and explore their websites for further details about their research.

Distinguished Career Award Recipient: Kurt Konhauser (University of Alberta)
Dr. Kurt O. Konhauser is a Professor in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Alberta. Kurt is the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Geobiology, author of Introduction to Geomicrobiology, founding member and 1st President of the Geobiology Society, and organizer for the 2017 and 2019 Geobiology Society Conferences in Banff. Kurt obtained his PhD from the University of Western Ontario before undertaking postdoctoral research at the University of Toronto and an academic appointment at the University of Leeds. Kurt moved to the University of Alberta in 2002 where he was the Canada Research Chair in Geomicrobiology. His research interests span a number of facets of geobiology and geomicrobiology including reconstructing the evolution of the biosphere across Earth’s history, modern analogue environments, and the surface reactivity of microbes and minerals. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the Geochemical Society, and the American Geophysical Union.

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