A Florida State University professor in the College of Social Sciences and Public Policy was recently awarded the Distinguished Career Award from the Quaternary Geology and Geomorphology Division of the Geological Society of America (GSA).
Anne Chin, Harrison V. Chase Distinguished Professor of Geography and chair of the Department of Geography, received the award at GSA’s annual meeting in Anaheim, California in September.
“It was a glorious evening,” Chin said. “It was all the more special, as I noted in my acceptance speech, that I join only four other women who have received the award, all within the last decade or so, out of nearly 40 recipients. I was also the first Asian American and first person of color to have received this award — a historic moment indeed.”
Chin also delivered the presentation “Anthropocene Futures,” which focused on her decades-long efforts to understand human impacts on Earth and to build interdisciplinary teams to develop solutions toward human-environmental sustainability.
Chin became Chair of FSU’s Department of Geography in August 2024. Prior to that, she held positions at the University of Colorado Denver and Texas A&M University. She is the founding editor-in-chief of “Anthropocene,” an international and interdisciplinary journal founded in 2012 that focuses on human interactions with Earth systems. Previously, she was an editor of “Earth Science Reviews” and served as director of the Geography and Spatial Sciences Program of the National Science Foundation.
For Chin, receiving this award was highly meaningful on a personal level.
“As an immigrant who came to America at a young age, I never would have imagined this moment of recognition by my peers for a lifetime of achievement at the pinnacle of my profession,” Chin said. “I am incredibly proud of this award for my family too because it also speaks to their hard work, perseverance and resilience, and the journey that we’ve traveled together.”
The Distinguished Career Award was established in 1985 to recognize a Quaternary geologist or geomorphologist for their demonstrated excellence in their contributions to science.
GSA is a global scientific society that connects geoscientists from academia, government, and industry to foster professional growth. The society is based in Boulder, Colorado, but its members come from over 100 countries.
The GSA Quaternary Geology & Geomorphology Division focuses on the Quaternary Period in Earth’s geological history, which began 2.58 million years ago and continues into the present day.
To learn more about FSU’s Department of Geography, visit cosspp.fsu.edu/geography.