Honor recognizes geologist’s “original contributions to the basic knowledge of the crust and lithosphere”

Cambridge, Mass. - August 13, 2012 - James R. Rice, Mallinckrodt Professor of Engineering Sciences and Geophysics at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences (EPS), has been selected to receive the American Geophysical Union’s (AGU) 2012 Walter H. Bucher Medal.

The honor, which will be formally bestowed at a ceremony in December, recognizes Rice’s “original contributions to the basic knowledge of the crust and lithosphere.”

A mechanical engineer by training, Rice is an expert on the solid and fluid mechanics of stressing, deformation, fracture and flow. His research impacts the study of earthquakes and tectonics, glaciation, landslides, tsunamis, and other processes involved in surface geology. His work has also greatly affected the fields of civil and environmental engineering… [more]