“IAVCEI awards and medals are awarded every two or four years at the IAVCEI Scientific Assembly, the IAVCEI General Assembly (during the IUGG General Assembly) or the Cities on Volcanoes conference. The awardees are selected by the members of the IAVCEI award committees.
| Scientific Assembly | General Assembly | Cities on Volcanoes | |
| Collective Research award | X | ||
| George Walker award | X | X | |
| Honorary award | X | X | X |
| Volcanic surveillance and crisis management award | X | ||
| Fisher medal | X | ||
| Krafft medal | X | ||
| Thorarinsson medal | X | ||
| Wager medal | X | X |
Awards
Collective Research award
The Award for Collective Research is awarded every 4 years during the IAVCEI General Assembly.
This is a group achievement award that recognizes excellent work through collaboration. It can involve multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary, national or international research groups and/or stakeholder that have contributed to a significant shift in understanding of science related to volcanology and/or chemistry of the Earth’s interior.
Criteria for eligibility include successful national or international cooperation that has resulted in outstanding research outputs (in terms of originality, significance and rigour) that can include but can also go beyond academic publications and/or social innovation (i.e. new social practices that aim to meet social needs resulting from – for example – cooperation, inclusivity, education, community development, risk reduction or public health).
George Walker award
The George Walker medal is awarded every 2 years at both the IAVCEI Scientific Assembly and at the IAVCEI General Assembly to Early Career Researchers (ECR) as defined in paragraph 4.2 of Statutes & By-Laws [link to https://www.iavceivolcano.org/statutes-and-by-laws/] (Nominees must be ECR at the time of nomination submission).
*Excluding Career Breaks as defined in paragraph 4.3 of Statutes & By-Laws [link to https://www.iavceivolcano.org/statutes-and-by-laws/]
The George Walker Award honours the memory of Professor George Walker [link to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_P._L._Walker], who was born on 2 March 1926 and died on 17 January 2005. Professor Walker’s discoveries pioneered a modern quantitative approach to physical volcanology and greatly accelerated understanding of volcanic processes. The award recognizes achievements of a recent outstanding graduate in the fields of research encompassed by IAVCEI, or also a recent graduate whose achievements in volcanology involved operating in difficult circumstances.
Previous GEORGE WALKER medal winners
- 2004 Costanza BONADONNA
- 2008 Diana C. ROMAN
- 2008 Fukashi MAENO
- 2011 Josef DUFEK
- 2013 Heather WRIGHT
- 2015 Anja SCHMIDT
- 2017 Sébastien BIASS
- 2017 Alexa VAN EATON
- 2019 Damien GAUDIN
- 2019 Fabian WADSWORTH
- 2023 Emma NICHOLSON (LIU)
- 2023 Andrea BEVILACQUA
- 2023 Thomas JONES
Honorary awards
Honorary awards can be granted to individuals at the discretion of the IAVCEI Executive Committee as reward for achievements during their career. The Honorary Award can go to any IAVCEI member or non-member who has made a significant impact on, and contribution to, the topics and activities with IAVCEI’s sphere of interest (see Statutes and By-Laws). The Honorary awards can be conferred at the General and Scientific Assemblies and the Cities on Volcanoes meeting and can be given posthumously. Unless given posthumously, the award goes with honorary life membership.
Volcanic surveillance and crisis management award
The Volcanic Surveillance and Crisis Management award is given every 2 years during the Cities on Volcanoes conference.
This group achievement honours the personnel from institutions or organisations responsible for monitoring volcanoes (volcano observatories and/or other institutions) that have made a remarkable contribution to the mitigation of volcanic risks.
Criteria for eligibility include successful risk assessment and mitigation efforts and/or effective volcano surveillance and eruption forecasting and/or effective crisis management.
Medals
Fisher
The Fisher medal is given every 4 years at the IAVCEI Scientific Assembly to a scientist who has made outstanding contributions to volcanology based primarily upon field observations.
The Fisher medal honours the memory of Professor Richard V. Fisher [link to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Virgil_Fisher] of the University of California Santa Barbara, who was born on 8 August 1928 in Whittier, California, and died on 8 June 2002 in Santa Barbara, California. Professor Fisher is known for his pioneering work on pyroclastic density currents. He developed models for transport and deposition based upon very carefully described stratigraphic sections and sedimentological properties of the deposits. His models were always based firmly upon his field work.
FISHER MEDAL past winners
2017 – Josè Luis MACIAS VASQUEZ Vasquez
2023 – Karen FONTIJN
Krafft
The Krafft Medal is awarded every 4 years at the IAVCEI General Assembly and honours those who have served the community and contributed to a better understanding and communication of volcanic hazards and to the reduction of volcanic risk.
The Krafft Medal honours the memory of Katia and Maurice Krafft (link to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katia_and_Maurice_Krafft). Katja was born on 17 April 1942 in Soultz-Haut-Rhin, France. Maurice was born on 25 March 1946 in Guebwiller, France. They were killed on 3 June 1991 while photographing and filming pyroclastic density currents on Mount Unzen, Japan. The Kraffts were pioneers in filming, photographing and recording volcanoes.
PREVIOUS KRAFFT MEDAL winners
- 2004 Tom SIMKIN
- 2008 Christopher G. NEWHALL
- 2013 Shigeo ARAMAKI
- 2017 Hugo DELGADO GRANADOS
- 2017 Marta CALVACHE
- 2023 John PALLISTER
Thorarinsson
The Thorarinsson Medal is awarded every 4 years at the IAVCEI Scientific Assembly to a scientist of outstanding distinction who has made fundamental contributions to research in volcanology.
The Thorarinsson Medal honours the memory of Professor Sigurdur Thorarinsson (Sigurður Þórarinsson) who was born on 8 January 1912 in Vopnafjörður, Iceland, and died in Reykjavik on 8 February 1983. Professor Thorarinsson is known for his pioneering work in volcanology, especially tephrochronology of Iceland. The medal was donated by the Iceland Geoscience Society (Jarðfræðafélag Íslands). The medal is the most senior medal of IAVCEI.
PREVIOUS THORARINSSON MEDAL winners
- 1987 Robert L. SMITH
- 1989 George P.L. WALKER
- 1993 Hans U. SCHMINCKE
- 1997 Richard V. FISHER
- 2000 Keiiti AKI
- 2004 Wes HILDRETH
- 2008 Robert Stephen John SPARKS
- 2013 Barry VOIGHT
- 2017 Bruce Frank HOUGHTON
- 2023 Katharine V. CASHMAN
Wager
The Wager Medal is awarded every 2 years at both the IAVCEI Scientific Assembly and at the IAVCEI General Assembly to a scientist within 15 years after Ph.D acquisition*, who has made outstanding contributions to volcanology, particularly in the eight-year period prior to the Award.
*Excluding Career Breaks as defined in paragraph 4.3 of Statutes & By-Laws [link to https://www.iavceivolcano.org/about/statute-and-by-laws/]
The Wager Medal honours the memory of Professor Lawrence Rickard Wager [link to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Wager] of the University of Oxford, United Kingdom. He was born on 5 February 1904 in Batley and died on 20 November 1965 in London. Professor Wager is best known for the discovery of the Skaergaard layered intrusion and the first detailed structural, mineralogical and petrological study of such intrusions.
PREVIOUS WAGER award winners
- 1974 Franco BARBERI
- 1974 J. VARET
- 1978 R.S.J. SPARKS
- 1987 Charlie BACON
- 1993 Colin WILSON
- 1993 Claude JAUPART
- 1998 Giovanni MACEDONIO
- 1998 Jon DAVIDSON
- 2002 Andrew WOODS
- 2002 James GARDNER
- 2004 Andrew HARRIS
- 2004 Oleg MELNIK
- 2008 Joachim GOTTSMANN
- 2008 Alessandro AIUPPA
- 2011 Amanda CARKE
- 2013 Antonio COSTA
- 2013 Fidel COSTA
- 2015 Tommaso ESPOSTI ONGARO
- 2015 Mattia DE MICHIELI VITTURI
- 2017 Marie EDMONDS
- 2017 Yan LAVALLÉE
- 2019 Madeleine HUMPHREYS
- 2023 Susanna JENKINS
- 2023 Yves MOUSSALAM
- 2023 Michael J. HEAP
Walker
The George Walker Award is awarded every 2 years at both the IAVCEI Scientific Assembly and at the IAVCEI General Assembly to Early Career Researchers (ECR) as defined in paragraph 4.2 of Statutes and By-Laws (Nominees must be ECR at the time of nomination submission).
*Excluding Career Breaks as defined in paragraph 4.3 of Statutes and By-Laws
The George Walker Award honours the memory of Professor George Walker, who was born on 2 March 1926 and died on 17 January 2005. Professor Walker’s discoveries pioneered a modern quantitative approach to physical volcanology and greatly accelerated understanding of volcanic processes. The award recognizes achievements of a recent outstanding graduate in the fields of research encompassed by IAVCEI, or also a recent graduate whose achievements in volcanology involved operating in difficult circumstances.
Collective Research
The Award for Collective Research is awarded every 4 years during the IAVCEI General Assembly.
This is a group achievement award that recognizes excellent work through collaboration. It can involve multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary, national or international research groups and/or stakeholder that have contributed to a significant shift in understanding of science related to volcanology and/or chemistry of the Earth’s interior.
Criteria for eligibility include successful national or international cooperation that has resulted in outstanding research outputs (in terms of originality, significance and rigour) that can include but can also go beyond academic publications and/or social innovation (i.e. new social practices that aim to meet social needs resulting from – for example – cooperation, inclusivity, education, community development, risk reduction or public health).
Volcanic surveillance and crisis management
The award for Volcanic surveillance and crisis management is given every 2 years during the Cities on Volcanoes conference.
This is a group achievement that honours the personnel from institutions or organisations responsible for monitoring volcanoes (volcano observatories and/or other institutions) that have made a remarkable contribution to the mitigation of volcanic risks.
Criteria for eligibility include successful risk assessment and mitigation efforts and/or effective volcano surveillance and eruption forecasting and/or effective crisis management.
PREVIOUS VSCM award winners
- 2018 – Center for Volcanology and Geologic Hazards Mitigation (CVGHM) – INDONESIA
- 2020 –IG-EPN – ECUADOR
- 2022 – Seismic Research Center of the University of the West Indies – TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
Honorary Awards
Honorary Awards can be granted to individuals at the discretion of the IAVCEI EC as reward for achievements during their career. The Honorary Award can go to any IAVCEI member or non-member who has made a significant impact on, and contribution to, the topics and activities with IAVCEI’s sphere of interest (see §2.2 of the IAVCEI Statutes & By-Laws [link to https://www.iavceivolcano.org/statutes-and-by-laws/]). The Honorary Awards can be conferred at the General and Scientific Assemblies and the Cities on Volcanoes meeting and can be given posthumously. Unless given posthumously, the award goes with honorary life membership.
Honorary award past winners:
- 2024 – Minard ‘Pete’ HALL
- 2024 – Jim KAUAHIKAUA