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Idaho Geologist Honored for Lifetime Achievement
Posted on: May 10, 2008
MOSCOW, Idaho – Judith Totman Parrish’s research shows that for most of the last 540 million years, there were no ice caps and polar temperatures were actually quite warm. The University of Idaho professor of geological sciences was a keynote presenter at the Association of African Women Geoscientists conference meeting at Cairo University in Egypt. In addition, she received an unexpected honor: a certificate of lifetime achievement from the association.
“I was, of course, very pleased,” Parrish said. “But my career has been interesting, fun and its own reward. Awards like this are icing on the cake.”
Parrish, who steps into the presidency of the Geological Society of America in July, was one of five keynote speakers at the fourth international AAWG conference held April 14-16 at Cairo University in Egypt. She spoke about “Climate change – perspectives from the past.”
Parrish said scientific research must inform policy decisions. “We are using highly complex and incompletely tested climate models to predict the future behavior of climate, and are making large policy decisions based on the results,” she said. “One area climate models don’t handle very well are the polar regions, yet we have never taken what we know from very different past climates and used it to modify the climate models.”
Parrish was chosen by AAWG for the lifetime achievement recognition “because of her progress in her career as a woman, for her honors and awards during her life, and for all her achievement from teaching to research and leader positions,” said Hanaa Salem, conference chair and professor of geology at Cairo University.
The conference brought together African geoscientists and professionals and those from other continents to share experiences, knowledge and ideas for the future of the African continent.
“The women who attended the conference are extraordinary, doing good science in very resource-constrained conditions,” Parrish related. “To make their organization work, they have to deal with issues of language – English, French and Arabic, with few speaking all three – and funding.”
Parrish served as dean of the University of Idaho’s College of Science from 2003-07, and then returned to full-time teaching and research in the college. Prior to Idaho, she served as associate dean and professor of geosciences at the College of Science at the University of Arizona, Tucson.
She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biology and her doctorate in earth science from the University of California at Santa Cruz. She did post-doctoral work at the University of Chicago. Her research expertise is paleoclimatology and she has remained active in field studies in Alaska, Argentina and the Colorado Plateau region.
The Association of African Women Geoscientists promotes “the environmentally sustainable development of Africa’s mineral resources and geological heritage by working closely with other stakeholders for the benefit of Africa and the world at large.” More information is available online at www.aawg4.virtualacademia.com.
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