Emily Brodsky
For her "fundamental, transdisciplinary contributions to understanding the physics of earthquake networks at all scales."
Emily Brodsky received the Nemmers Prize in Earth Sciences, honored for her "fundamental, transdisciplinary contributions to understanding the physics of earthquake networks at all scales." She is a professor of Earth and planetary sciences at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
As an earthquake physicist, Brodsky studies the mechanics underlying earthquakes to address questions about the processes that trigger earthquakes and the constraining forces that processes that occur inside a fault zone during slip. These studies require expertise in a variety of geoscience disciplines, including seismology, hydrogeology, structural geology and rock mechanics.
After the 2011 Tohoku earthquake off the coast of Japan, Brodsky helped organize and lead a major international expedition to study the fault. Her recent work includes important findings about earthquakes induced by human activities, in which fluids are injected deep underground (e.g., hydraulic fracturing, wastewater disposal and geothermal wells). She currently is chair of SZ4D, a coordinated research initiative to investigate the processes that underlie subduction zone hazards.
A fellow of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) and the Geological Society of America (GSA), Brodsky has received many awards and honors for her work, including the 2008 James Macelwane Medal from the AGU, the 2019 Woollard Award from the GSA and the 2021 Price Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society. Brodsky has served on the boards of directors of the Southern California Earthquake Center and the Incorporated Research Institutes for Seismology. She has published more than 130 peer-reviewed articles and has presented more than 150 invited lectures in 30 states and 13 countries. Her work has been widely featured in the mainstream media.
The 2022 Nemmers Prize Selection Committee was Suzan van der Lee (Northwestern), Magali Billen (UC Davis) and Abby Kavner (UCLA).