faculty and staff receive awardsjan 6 2014the college of geosciences honored outstanding faculty and staff members for their achievements in 2013the dean's outstanding achievement awards were presented friday night dec 6 at a dinner in conjunction with the annual holiday reception dean kate miller presented a framed certificate and check to the following: dr chris houser associate professor of geography was recognized as an innovative teacher who makes extensive use of evidence-based pedagogic methods he received the deans distinguished achievement award for teaching dr steven f dimarco professor of oceanography was honored with the deans distinguished achievement award for research and was recognized as a leader in the gulf of mexico physical oceanography community who has made important contribution to understanding basic physical processes in the gulf assistant professor of geography dr brendan roark was honored with the deans distinguished achievement award for faculty service his nominators said dr roark has worked tirelessly over the past five years to develop a world-class isotope facility that serves the college of geosciences the deans award for faculty administrative service went to dr vatche p tchakerian professor and head of geography he was recognized for his ability to heal rifts by amongst other things his very inclusive effective low-key style of governance three staff awards went out to barbara bayer assistant dean for administration and finance; karen riedel communications manager; and david lehnert materials specialist bayer was recognized for her leadership of all business functions and staff riedel for her effective communication of the college of geosciences mission and accomplishments and lehnert for his attention to detail and keeping his fingers on the pulse of the industry the association of former students (afs) presented two faculty members dr christian brannstrom professor of geography and dr shaima nasiri associate professor of atmospheric sciences with the college-level teaching award eleven receive tenure and promotion the awards ceremony also honored faculty members who were tenured and promoted in 2013 the following were promoted to associate professor and granted tenure geology and geophysics drs benchun duan and michael m tice atmospheric sciences: dr robert l kortyoceanography: dr matthew w schmidt the following were promoted to professor: atmospheric sciences: dr courtney schumacher geography: drs christian brannstrom and charles w lafonoceanography: drs steve dimarco alejandro orsi and robert d hetlandgeology and geophysics: dr richard l gibson additional achievements recognizeddr peter liss tias fellow and visiting professor of oceanography and atmospheric sciences was named 2013 american geological union (agu) fellow and dr ping yang was honored with the agu ascent award dr schumacher received the agu editors citation for excellence in refereeing for eos and was also honored with the american meteorological society (ams) clarence leroy meisinger award the ams recognized dr andrew e dessler as recipient of the louis j battan authors award dr oliver frauenfeld is the 2013–14 montague-cte scholar dr wendy jepson received the richard stadelmann faculty senate service award dr john nielsen-gammon was recognized as 2013 outstanding science communicator by the texas a&m chapter of sigma xi received the texas a&m sec faculty achievement award and won the 2013 educational aids blue ribbon award for his entry into the american society of agricultural and biological engineers (asabe) eliana mijangos january 3 2014 contactkaren riedelcommunications managertel: (979) 845-0910