Nicole Gasparini, a geologist in the School of Science and Engineering at Tulane University in New Orleans, has been named the winner of the 2021 Marguerite T. Williams Award, given annually by the American Geophysical Union’s Earth and Planetary Surface Processes Section. The Marguerite T. Williams Award is presented annually and recognizes significant contributions to research and community-building by a mid-career scientist in the field of earth and planetary surface processes. The award is named for the nation’s first Black woman to earn a Ph.D. in geology in 1942. She was 47 at the time.
“I can’t even imagine the hardships she had to overcome,” Dr. Gasparini said. “She devoted her life to teaching and working in her community. It is incredibly humbling to receive an award named for her, especially because this award is given for both scientific contributions and community building. One of my career goals is to make my scientific community accessible for everyone who wants to be here. I want my community to become a place where everyone can thrive.”
Gasparini’s research explores how landscapes evolve over different spatial and temporal scales. She and her research team use field observations, numerical landscape simulations, remotely sensed data and data collected by collaborators and government agencies to explore questions that intersect hydrology, tectonics, and sedimentology with geomorphology at the core.
Dr. Gasparini is a graduate of the University at Buffalo of the State University of New York System. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Intitute of Technology.