News and Notes (continued)
SSA Board Election: Vote Online Now
SSA members are now able to cast ballots electronically in the Society’s annual elections. The 2008 election for the SSA Board of Directors is being held
online through Election-America, an election services company. Election-America was scheduled to
e‑mail detailed voting instructions, including passwords, to SSA members in October.
Voting began on 15 October 2007 and will
close at 12 Noon PST on Friday, 4 January 2008.
Candidate statements are available at www.seismosoc.org or in SRL 78-5.
If you would prefer to vote by paper ballot, that
option is still available. Information about how
to request a paper ballot is provided in your SSA
Membership renewal packets. If you have questions
regarding the online election, or you haven’t received
login information, contact Tabitha Thurston at
tabitha@seismosoc.org.
Nominations Open Now for SSA Awards
SSA members are invited to submit nominations for
the following four SSA awards by 15 February 2008.
Electronic submission is encouraged, though nominations may be submitted in hard copy.
• Send a nomination via e‑mail (text, PDF, or .doc
files) to the SSA Secretary at secretary@seismosoc.org.
• Send a nomination via post to the SSA Secretary
c/o Susan Newman, SSA Executive Director,
201 Plaza Professional Building, El Cerrito, CA
94530 USA.
• Send a nomination via fax to the SSA Secretary
at 510-525-7204.
You will receive a confirmation of receipt of your
nomination. Award winners will be announced at
the next SSA Annual Meeting Luncheon in Santa
Fe, New Mexico, on 17 April 2008.
Harry Fielding Reid Medal
The Harry Fielding Reid Medal of the Seismological
Society of America, formerly known simply as “The
SSA Medal,” is the Society’s highest honor. It is
awarded for outstanding contributions in seismol-
ogy or earthquake engineering. A Reid Medal nomination package should include letters of nomination
from at least two but no more than five Society members. Each nominating letter may have more than
one signatory, but each signatory should sign only
one letter. A single curriculum vitae and bibliography of the nominee may be included. To simplify
communications with the Secretary, nominators of a
particular nominee should select among themselves
a chief nominator for correspondence purposes.
For more information about the Reid Medal
nomination process, contact Don Helmberger at
helm@seismo.gps.caltech.edu.
Charles F. Richter Early Career Award
The Charles F. Richter Early Career Award honors
outstanding contributions to the goals of the Society
by a member early in her or his career. A Richter
Award nominee for this year must be 1) a regular
or honorary member of the Society in good standing; 2) have a most-recent academic degree that was
awarded after 18 April 2002; and 3) have a date of
birth after 18 April 1968. Any member of the Society
who is not on the Richter Award Subcommittee may
nominate someone for the Richter Award.
The Richter Award nomination package should
include 1) a letter of nomination no more than two
pages long that summarizes the nominee’s significant
accomplishments; 2) a curriculum vitae of the nominee that includes a bibliography; 3) two to four supporting letters, each no more than two pages long, at
least two of which are from individuals not currently
employed at the nominee’s current institution or the
institution from which the nominee received her or
his most recent degree; and 4) an eligible birth date
and date of degree.
For more information about the Richter Early
Career Award nomination process, contact Steve
Malone, Chair of the Honors Committee, at steve@
ess.washington.edu.
Frank Press Public Service Award
The Frank Press Public Service Award honors any
individual, combination of individuals, or any orga-
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News and Notes (continued)
nization that has served the profession of seismology or the advancement of public safety or public
information relating to seismology. The Press Award
nomination package should include a letter of nomination no longer than two pages that summarizes
the nominee’s significant accomplishments, and two
to four supporting letters, each no longer than two
pages, at least one written by a member of the Society.
If the nominee is an individual, the nomination may
include a curriculum vitae or biography.
For more information about the Press Public
Service Award nomination process, contact Brian
Tucker at tucker@geohaz.org.
SSA Distinguished Service Award
The SSA Distinguished Service Award honors a
person who has provided outstanding service to
the Society. This award may be given to any person,
and any Society member may make the nomination.
Distinguished Service Award nominations should
be submitted in a letter to the secretary. For more
information about the Distinguished Service Award
nomination process, contact Steve Malone at steve@
ess.washington.edu.
Chris Poland Selected as 2008 Joyner Lecturer
Chris Poland, who is chairman, president and CEO
of Degenkolb Engineers, has been chosen to deliver
the 2008 William B. Joyner Memorial Lecture at the
February 2008 Earthquake Engineering Research
Institute meeting in New Orleans and at the April
2008 SSA meeting in Santa Fe.
The Joyner Fund was established to memorialize Bill Joyner and his efforts to bring earthquake
seismology and earthquake engineering closer
together to provide for a safer society. SSA, in cooperation with EERI, established the Joyner Memorial
Lectures to be given at the annual meetings of both
groups. The Joyner Committee selects lecturers on
the basis of outstanding earth-science contributions
to the theory/practice of earthquake engineering or
outstanding earthquake-engineering contributions
to the direction and focus of earth-science research/
practice, together with demonstrated skills of communication at the earthquake-science/earthquakeengineering interface.
IASPEI Recommends Aki as Unit of Seismic
Moment
A new unit of seismic moment, the Aki, was recommended by the International Association of
Seismology and Physics of the Earth’s Interior
(IASPEI) at its July 2007 meeting in Perugia, Italy.
The recommendation was made by resolution,
which recommends that 1 Aki (Ak), defined as
1018 Nm, be recognized as a standard unit of earthquake size. The unit is named after Professor Kei-iti
Aki, who was a pioneer in defining seismic moment
and describing practical ways to measure it.
IRIS, SSA Name Distinguished Lecturers
The Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology
(IRIS) and the Seismological Society of America (SSA)
and have selected two experienced speakers from the
Earth science research community for the 2008 IRIS/
SSA Distinguished Lectureship Series (http://www.
iris.edu/services/lectures/iris_ssa.htm). Speakers are
chosen for their interesting subject matter as well as
their ability to convey scientific ideas to a general audience. IRIS and SSA cover all of the speakers’ travel and
lodging costs and provide free seismology outreach
materials to interested venues.
The speakers and their topics are:
Dr. Cliff Frohlich, University of Texas at Austin:
Deep Earthquakes and the Secrets of Seismology
In every profession there are “secrets,” that is, basic information that is known to all who practice the profession
but somehow unknown to everyone else. Dr. Frohlich
will focus on the enigma of deep earthquakes. He will
address what is known and unknown about their origin, explain why they are critical to studies of the Earth’s
interior structure, and discuss how they pose a considerable hazard in a few parts of the world. His use of raw
eggs, baseballs, and even air hockey to illustrate Earth
structure and mechanics will engage audiences both
young and old. All who attend will learn much about
seismology that seismologists know but seldom tell.
Dr. Uri ten Brink, U.S. Geological Survey, Woods Hole
Science Center: Peace and Science in the Middle East
Dr. ten Brink’s talk will address the challenges faced
by scientists who wish to conduct research in the
574 Seismological Research Letters Volume 78, Number 6 November/December 2007
News and Notes (continued)
volatile Middle East, whose ancient cultures and
modern political conflicts are shaped by a landscape
dominated by the Dead Sea rift valley, much of it
below sea level. Although the rift geology has been
studied in detail for almost a century, regional subsurface studies have been hampered by the political
situation in the region. The peace treaty between
Jordan and Israel and the Oslo agreement between
Israel and the Palestinians has opened the door for
scientists to cooperate on regional projects, although
the security situation and the occasional conflict
still pose substantial hurdles. Despite these hurdles,
recent cooperative studies among the region’s countries have yielded surprising and exciting results that
Dr. ten Brink will share with audiences.
This Lecture Series will start in January 2008. If
you are interested in requesting a speaker please contact Lindsay Wood (lindsay@iris.edu, 202.682.2220)
for details. To learn more about the talks, please see
the speakers’ extended abstracts at http://www.iris.
edu/services/lectures/iris_ssa.htm.
SRL Goes Online in 2008
Seismological Research Letters is set to go online soon.
This service will be available and searchable on the
Web by January 2008. All of SRL’s articles, features,
news, and member updates will be available for issues
from 2006 forward, free of charge for SSA members.
As a result, in 2008 members have the option of
going all-electronic; members will get a dues discount for giving up their print SRL. For more information contact membership@seismosoc.org.
Please send items for “News and Notes” to SRL Editor
Luciana Astiz at lastiz@ucsd.edu or UCSD Institute of
Geophysics and Planetary Physics, 9500 Gilman Drive
#0225, La Jolla, CA 92093-0225.
Seismological Research Letters Volume 78, Number 6 November/December 2007 575