Isaac Larsen of EGCS Elected Fellow of the Geological Society of America
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Isaac Larsen—an associate professor in the College of Natural Sciences’s Department of Earth, Geographic, and Climate Sciences focusing on geomorphology and cosmogenic nuclide geochemistry—has been elected Fellow of the Geological Society of America.
The Society Fellowship is “an honor bestowed on the best of our profession” by election at the GSA Council’s spring meeting each year. According to GSA, “members are nominated by other GSA members in recognition of a sustained record of distinguished contributions to the geosciences and the Geological Society of America through such avenues as publications, applied research, teaching, administration of geological programs, contributing to the public awareness of geology, leadership of professional organizations, and taking on editorial, bibliographic, and library responsibilities.”
“I became a member of the Geological Society of America when I was a senior in college,” recalls Larsen. “At that time, I never would have guessed that my career would unfold the way that it has and that I’d one day be nominated—and let alone elected—as a Fellow of GSA. It is an incredible honor to join the ranks of the many excellent colleagues that have supported and inspired my work.”
Larsen uses field, geochemical, remote-sensing, and modeling tools to quantify rates of Earth surface change and understand how landscapes evolve. He runs a cosmogenic nuclide geochemistry lab for extracting the radioactive isotopes 10-Be and 26-Al for exposure dating and denudation rate measurements. Current projects involve understanding landscape response to a broad range of factors, including mega-floods, active tectonics, agriculture, and climate change.
“Isaac Larsen is a stellar interdisciplinary geoscientist, applying insight and skills in geochemistry, remote sensing, geochronology, and numerical modeling to address fundamental field-scale geologic questions of landscape evolution and soil erosion,” said Jim O'Connor, a research geologist at the United States Geological Survey. “He is also a leader in the scientific community, contributing to education, scientific meeting organization, fieldtrips, outreach, and inclusion so to facilitate scientific engagement and understanding across the wide spectrum of students, educators, scientists, and communities served by GSA.”
“GSA is such a wonderful organization,” Larsen expressed. “It supported me as a graduate student and supports my students today. I look forward to continuing my engagement with the great community that GSA fosters and contributing to the vitality of the society.”
Learn more about the recipients of the 2025 GSA Society Fellowship.