Dr. Lisa Ely a GSA Thompson Distinguished International Lecturer

Dr. Lisa L. Ely of the Central Washington University Department of Geological Sciences has been selected as the 2015 Geological Society of America Thompson Distinguished International Lecturer.

Lisa Ely and Isabel Hong in the field in Chile

The lecture tour is named after former Harvard Professor James B. Thompson, Jr., whose bequest to GSA contributed to the endowment of the lecture tour by a North American scientist to countries outside of North America, as well as parallel tour within the U.S. by a non-North American scientist. The goal is to send abroad an excellent and established speaker with scientific stature and impact regarding a topic that is at the forefront of research in order to raise GSA visibility within the international geoscience community. The target audience will be students, faculty, and professionals in the geosciences.

Dr. Ely is planning a lecture tour that includes South American universities in Chile, Ecuador, and Peru in November 2015; and a second tour to Mexico, central America and the Caribbean in March, 2016. She will deliver lectures in Spanish and English on two of her recent research projects, which were conducted in collaboration with CWU students and professional colleagues: "Following in the Footsteps of Charles Darwin: Combining Geological and Historical Evidence to Assess Earthquake and Tsunami Hazards" and "Geomorphic Signatures of Floods and Dams on River Landscapes"

The non-North American recipient of the GSA International Lectureship, Dr. Stefano Lugli of the University of Modena e Reggio Emilia, Italy, will visit CWU on his lecture tour of the U.S. in April 2016. His recent projects include the geology of evaporite deposits and the geoarcheology of ancient archeological sites.

For more information please visit the Thompson International Distinguished Lecturers page on the GSA website.

Congratulations Lisa!