Hold the Date Earth and Environmental Sciences Roecker Honored by Chinese for Earthquake Research Patrick Kurp Steven Roecker, professor of earth and environmental sciences, is the recipient of the highest honor bestowed by a part of the world most Americans have never heard of and probably can't pronounce. The People's Government of Xianjiang in the Uygur Autonomous Region of China has presented Roecker with the Tianshan Prize for his work on earthquakes in this earthquake-plagued region. Magnitudes of 6 and 7 are not unusual.
People there know they're going to happen.
You're not just worried about your children and your grandchildren. In 1997, Rensselaer and seven other universities received a five-year grant from the National Science Foundation to track earthquake activity and other geologic phenomena in Central Asia. The research has revised our geological understanding of the Tien Shan range and other mountains in the region. That's very young. The award ceremony for Roecker was held in Urumqi, the capital, on Sept. 28.