Desert Research Award named for professor Farouk El-Baz

In 1999, the GSA Foundation established the “Farouk El-Baz Award for Desert Research,” to award excellence in arid land studies. An annual distribution of $10,000.00 has been awarded to leading experts in desert research from the international scientific community. The new award is designed to encourage students to enter the field of desert study.

The Geological Society of America is a non-profit, professional organization with over 20,000 members in 85 countries. Among its aims is the promotion of the geosciences in the service of humanity. Its awards are managed by the GSA Foundation at 330 Penrose Place, Boulder, CO 80301, U.S.A.

Dr. El-Baz, a veteran of NASA’s Apollo program, is Research Professor and Director of the Boston University Center for Remote Sensing. He is renowned for pioneering research in the applications of satellite images to study deserts worldwide, with emphasis on the location of groundwater resources. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering and serves on its committee to identify “Grand Challenges for Engineering” in the next century.

Alexander Rohrmann, a Geosciences student from the University of Arizona, is the recipient of the first Farouk El-Baz Student Research Award from the Geological Society of America, to encourage and promote desert research.