Geophysicist Professor Kurt Lambeck AO FAA FRS from the Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University, has won the Australian Academy of Science's most prestigious award for physical sciences, the Matthew Flinders Medal. The award was announced today.
Professor Lambeck's research has provided answers to questions about how the Earth evolved not only over the last few hundred or thousand years, but over the billions of years since its formation. His interdisciplinary contributions to our understanding of the Earth's mantle — the subject of ongoing controversy for over half a century — have fundamentally affected our understanding of the Earth's structure and evolution.
Through his work, we have new ways of understanding how the Earth works, in research areas as diverse as the intricate variations of its rotation axis, the complex global geometry of sea level variations, and the growth and decay of ice sheets in recent geological time.
Established to commemorate the explorer Matthew Flinders and to honour the contributions of Australia's early scientific researchers, the Matthew Flinders Medal and Lecture is awarded every two years.
"This medal recognises scientific research of the highest standing in the physical science," said Academy Secretary for Physical Sciences Professor Jagadish FAA FAAAS FTSE.
"Professor Lambeck has been an outstanding scientist for many years. He was elected a Fellow of the Academy in 1984 and served as its President from 2006 to 2010. On behalf of the Academy, I offer him my warmest congratulations on this well deserved honour."
Professor Lambeck will be awarded the medal and speak about his work at the Academy's annual conference, Science at the Shine Dome, in 2015.
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