Professor and Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center Principal Investigator Melisa Diaz was recently honored with the F.W. Clarke Award for her pioneering research investigating the geochemical signatures that connect the distribution of organisms in Transantarctic Mountains soils to the history of glacier movement.

Diaz uses geochemical and isotopic techniques to examine how soil age influences biogeography and habitat suitability, helping researchers better understand the relationship between Antarctica's landscape history and the organisms that inhabit it.

Presented by the Geochemical Society, the F.W. Clarke Award recognizes an outstanding contribution to geochemistry or cosmochemistry by an early-career scientist through a single paper or a series of papers focused on a single topic.

As part of the award, Diaz delivered the F.W. Clarke Medal Lecture, Linking Landscape History to Biogeography in the Transantarctic Mountains, Antarctica: A Geochemical Perspective, at the Goldschmidt Conference on Monday, July 13.

To learn more about Diaz's research, visit the POLAR ENV website.

To learn more about Diaz's award and other award winners, visit the Goldschmidt Conference Awards website.