The Francis Birch Lecture is an annual lecture constituting the highest honor in tectonophysics from the American Geophysical Union (AGU). The lecture is named in honor of Francis Birch, famous as a pioneer of solid Earth geophysics. The Birch Lecture, inaugurated in 1992, is presented at the AGU autumn meeting by a recipient whose research has significantly contributed to tectonophysics "through observations, experiments, the development of analytical methods or modeling."
The Birch Lecture forms part of the AGU's Bowie Lecture Series, established in 1989. The AGU's highest honor is the William Bowie Medal, named in honor of William Bowie — the AGU's first president with an international reputation in geodesy, geophysics, and engineering.
The AGU invites the Birch Lecturer and does not accept nominations for the Birch Lectureship.
Birch Lecturers Name Institution Year Lecture TitleThomas A. HerringMassachusetts Institute of Technology1992Space Geodetic Studies of the Earth's InteriorJames R. RiceHarvard University1993Problems in Earthquake Source Mechanicsno lecture1994Harry W. Green IIUniversity of California, Davis1995The mechanisms of Deep EarthquakesRoss S. SteinUnited States Geological Survey, Menlo Park1996Stress Triggering of Earthquakes, or Playing Prediction with Less than Half a DeckDonald W. ForsythBrown University1997Melting and Mantle Flow Beneath Mid-Ocean Ridges: Constraints from the Seismological Component of the MELT ExperimentRichard G. GordonNorthwestern University1998The Plate Tectonic Approximation: Plate Nonrigidity and Diffuse Plate BoundariesPaul TapponnierInstitut de Physique du Globe de Paris1999Localisation and Propagation of Lithospheric Shear Zones Behaviour of the Continental Mantle During Collision, and Growth of the Tibet Plateauno lecture2000Louise H. KelloggUniversity of California, Davis2001Structure and Dynamics An Earth OdysseyGerald SchubertUCLA2002A Geophysicist's Journey to the Center of the EarthW. Roger BuckLamont–Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO)2003Splitting, Stretching and Spreading of LithosphereShun-Ichiro KaratoYale University2004Where on Earth is the Ocean?Leigh RoydenMassachusetts Institute of Technology2005Uplift and Evolution of the Eastern Tibetan PlateauClaude P. JaupartInstitut de Physique du Globe de Paris2006The Deep Roots of ContinentsJean-Philippe AvouacCalifornia Institute of Technology2007Mountain Ranges and the Deformation of ContinentsSuzanne M. CarbotteColumbia University2008Focusing in on Mid-Ocean Ridge SegmentationJerry X. MitrovicaEarth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University2009A Eulogy for EustasyWang-Ping ChenUniversity of Illinois Urbana-Champaign2010Global Tectonics Ties Quakes, Rocks, and Volatiles in the Mantle Transition ZoneMichael MangaUniversity of California, Berkeley2011Hydrological Response to Earthquakes (and was the LUSI Mud Volcano Eruption in Indonesia Caused by an Earthquake?)Richard H. SibsonOtago University2012Inside a Crustal Earthquake — Signals from Field GeologyRoland BürgmannUniversity of California, Berkeley2013M9 Megathrust Earthquake CyclesDavid BercoviciYale University2014On the Origin of Plate TectonicsKelin WangPacific Geoscience Center, Geological Survey of Canada2015Subduction Faults as We See Them in the 21st CenturyMaya TolstoyLamont–Doherty Earth Observatory2016Taking the Pulse of Mid-Ocean RidgesGreg HirthBrown University2017Lithospheric Strength and Stress State: Persistent Challenges and New Directions in GeodynamicsCarolina R. Lithgow-BertelloniUCLA2018The inevitable control of Earth's deep interior on the surfaceClaudio FaccennaRoma Tre University / University of Texas at Austin2019Shaping the Mediterranean from the inside outChristie D. RoweMcGill University2020Walking the seismogenic zone: A field geology perspective on earthquakesTaras GeryaETH Zürich2021New geodynamic processes and phenomena discovered with numerical modeling: examples and recipesDemian M. SafferUniversity of Texas Institute for Geophysics2022Fluids, Friction, and the Offshore Subduction MegathrustPhilippe AgardSorbonne Université2023
See also List of geology awards List of geophysics awards
References