Distinguished Lecturer Awards

The Geological Society of America’s Continental Scientific Drilling Division Distinguished Lecturer awardees are outstanding scientists who highlight the outstanding discoveries and science undertaken through continental drilling, through a series of lectures at academic institutions, GSA events, and the public during the year of the award.   

How to Nominate a Candidate or Apply:

If you would like to apply or nominate a candidate for the award, please submit:

  • the name of your nominee
  • a 2-3 sentence justification for their selection
  • the nominee's CV

Send nominations to the Chair of the Division Nominating Committee. Self-nominations are also welcome. The final selection will be made by the Division Management Board. 

CSD Distinguished Lecturers should be outstanding researchers with a history of leadership and engagement in continental scientific drilling projects. Lecture topics will focus on results from CSD research, and should be broadly accessible and of interest to the geosciences. 

Structure of the Lectures and Award:

The award will pay for part or all of the travel costs (depending on institutional need) for the awardee to give lectures on their research, with the option for remote/virtual lectures. Similar to other distinguished lectureships, the lectures will be advertised widely. We anticipate the awardee will give 6-10 lectures per year. 

How to apply to host a lecturer:

The CSD Division and GSA will advertise the lecturer and their research, and interested institutions or events should contact the lecturer directly. The lecturer will work with the institution to schedule the lecture and determine funding levels, with input from the Division as needed. Preference for funding will be given to smaller institutions. 

The Continental Scientific Drilling Division is proud to announce its 2026-2027 Joint Distinguished Lecturers, Marieke Dechesne and Ellen Currano.

To schedule a lecture with Marieke or Ellen, please email the lecturers directly (ecurrano@uwyo.edu and mdechesne@usgs.gov). The Division can cover a portion of transportation costs for in-person talks. Remote talks are also welcome. 

Ellen Currano, University of Wyoming and Marieke Dechesne, US Geological Survey: “Coring the greenhouse: Sedimentation and vegetation change during the Paleocene – Eocene Thermal Maximum in the Hanna Basin, Wyoming”

Abstract: The Paleocene – Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM, 56 million years ago) is a rapid global warming event caused by the release by carbon into the atmosphere and oceans. This large perturbation of the carbon cycle caused ocean acidification, 5-9°C of global warming, changes to the hydrologic cycle, and biotic turnover. We identified the location of the PETM in the Hanna Basin of south-central Wyoming, USA, using outcrop observations, leaf macrofossils, palynological analysis and a negative δ¹³C isotope excursion (CIE). The PETM occurs in the upper part of the Hanna Formation, which is composed of paludal to lacustrine carbonaceous shales, coals, and fluvial sandstones.Sagebrush and colluvium obscure intervals critical to obtain a full and continuous record of the latest Paleocene, PETM, and post-PETM early Eocene. Therefore, two cores were drilled ~800 m behind a measured PETM outcrop section. Together, these cores extend to a depth of 1236 ft (377 m). The cores are correlated with the previously established outcrop-based stratigraphic framework for this area, enabling better constrained analysis of facies changes during the PETM. The excellent recovery of especially the organic rich sections in the cores will help refine spatial resolution of the δ¹³C isotope excursion, develop a more detailed palynological record, look at fire markers, track elemental changes, and deepen our understanding of paleoenvironmental dynamics in the Hanna Basin during the rapid global climatic change of the PETM. We welcome collaboration on geochemical, palynological, or other analyses from these cores.


Ellen Currano is a professor and paleobotanist at the University of Wyoming with appointments in the Department of Botany and Department of Geology & Geophysics. Her research focuses on how forest ecosystems responded to environmental perturbations such as the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction event and the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum. She received her BS degree from the University of Chicago and PhD from Pennsylvania State University.


Marieke Dechesne is a research geologist at the U.S. Geological Survey in Denver. She is the project lead for the USGS Hanna Basin drilling project. Her interest is in reconstructing basin history and building the stratigraphic frameworks of the Laramide Basins surrounding the Front Range, Colorado and Wyoming. She has been mapping in the Hanna Basin since 2014 and is currently mapping the Medicine Bow 100k sheet. She has a MSc degree in geology from Utrecht University, Netherlands.

 
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Past Distinguished Lecturers
2025 - Kristine Pankow, University of Utah: "Utah FORGE: A Field-Scale Geothermal Laboratory”
2024 - Mattia Pistone, University of Georgia: "Moho Mission to the Foundation of Continents: The ICDP DIVE Drilling Project"
2023 - Brandy Toner, University of Minnesota: "Investigating microbial life in rock fractures within the continental deep biosphere"
2023 - Jefferson Tester, Cornell University: "How advances in subsurface science and engineering will accelerate the development of geothermal district heating"
2022 - Sarah Ivory, Penn State University: “Muds and models: insights from scientific drilling for addressing future global environmental challenges”

2022 - Sean Gulick, University of Texas at Austin: “Life and Death by Impact: Drilling for Clues”

2021 - Gerilyn S. Soreghan, University of Oklahoma: “Using scientific drilling to test the controversial hypothesis of glaciation in late Paleozoic equatorial Pangaea”

2021 - Andrew S. Cohen, University of Arizona: “Scientific drilling in ancient African lakes: Unlocking the history of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems”

2020 - Julie Brigham-Grette, University of Massachusetts, Amherst: “The Impact of Lake El’gygytgyn, NE Russia, on our Knowledge of Polar Climate: this changes everything”

2020 - John Eichelberger, U. Alaska Fairbanks: “Drilling to Magma”