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The EEGS / Geonics Early Career Award  

The Environmental and Engineering Geophysical Society and Geonics Limited (EEGS / Geonics) Early Career Award, which acknowledges academic excellence and encourages research in near-surface geophysics, is awarded at SAGEEP to an individual who is: 
•   fewer than five years beyond the starting date of his or her current appointment and
•   within ten years post-completion of his or her PhD.

The award acknowledges significant and ongoing contributions to the discipline of environmental and engineering geophysics. The recipient may have any specialty that is recognized as part of the environmental and engineering geophysics discipline. This specialty is not restricted to departments, colleges, or geographic regions (international applicants are welcome). A committee of four or five members (two or three university faculty, one corporate or consulting representative, and one government laboratory representative), appointed by the EEGS Board, is responsible for selecting the awardee.

The award carries the following benefits:
•   Free registration to the SAGEEP conference at which the award will be presented
•   A plaque, suitable for display
•   A $1000 cash award
•   A time slot to present the awardee’s research and vision at SAGEEP
•  The citation and, if available, the awardee’s presentation published in FastTIMES and distributed to cooperating societies

Nominations for the 2025 award should be sent electronically as soon as possible to:
Nominations Committee at the EEGS email address:  [email protected]; Attention Early Career Award Committee.

Nomination packages must include:
•  A comprehensive vitae for the candidate
•  A letter of recommendation outlining the candidate’s qualifications for the award and
•  Copies or PDF files of three representative publications

EEGS / Geonics Early Career Award (ECA) Recipients:

2024: Piyoosh Jaysaval 
2016: Andrew Parsekian
2012: Adam Pidlisecky
2011: James Irving
2010: Niklas Linde
2009: Kamini Singha
2008: Gregory Baker 

EEGS/Near-Surface Geophysics Technical Section/Frank Frischknecht Leadership Award 

The Frank Frischknecht Leadership Award is established to recognize an individual who shows extraordinary leadership in advancing the cause of near surface geophysics through long-term, tireless, and enthusiastic support of the environmental and engineering geophysics community. Such leadership is often boldly displayed by an invention, a new methodology or technique, a theoretical or conceptual advancement, or a unique innovation that transforms the nature and capabilities of near surface geophysics. The Frank Frischknecht Leadership Award is presented jointly by EEGS and the Near-Surface Geophysics Technical Section of The Society of Exploration Geophysicists. Past recipients of the joint award include Klaus Holliger, Esben Auken, Motoyuki Sato, and Andrew Binley.

The award alternates on an approximately 18-month interval between EEGS' Symposium on the Application of Geophysics to Engineering and Environmental Problems (SAGEEP) and the Society of Exploration Geophysicists, Near-Surface Geophysics Technical Section's reception at annual meeting. 

Each nomination should include a letter of recommendation outlining the nominee's merits, contributions and accomplishments meeting the award criteria along with the candidate's contact information and a CV.  Nominations should be sent to the Nominations Committee as soon as possible at [email protected].

NSG Section Frank Frischknecht Leadership Award Recipients: 

2004: Rob Huggins
2003: Roger Young
2002: Rosemary Knight
2001: Dwain Butler
2000: Unknown
1999: Pete Haeni
1998: Pieter Hoekstra
1997: Bill Jones
1996: Don Steeples
1995: Bob Ballard

EEGS Frank Frischknecht Leadership Award Recipients:

2002: Duncan McNeill
2004: Peter Annan

Joint EEGS/NSG Technical Section of The Society of Exploration Geophysicists Frank Frischknecht Leadership Award Recipients:

2023: Evert Slob
2022: Timothy C. Johnson
2021: Not awarded
2020: Hansruedi Maurer
2019: Meng Loke
2018:  Not awarded
2017: Klaus Holliger
2016: Esben Auken (accepted remotely - click to view video) 
2015: Not awarded
2014:  Motoyuki Sato
2013: Not awarded
2012: Andrew Binley
2011: Kenneth L. Zonge
2010: Not awarded
2009: Susan Hubbard
2008: Kenneth Stokoe, II
2007: Not awarded
2006: Bob Corwin
2005: Susan Pullan 

The Institutional Contribution Award

This award was established to uniquely recognize an institution that has provided exceptional contribution to the engineering and environmental geophysical community through the development of technical publications and symposiums or conferences that educate and promote the use of geophysical methods and enhance project results for end users.

Since its inception, the ultimate goal of EEGS has been to promote the use of near surface geophysics for engineering and environmental projects and to help educate potential end users about the value of using the techniques. To that end, EEGS has sought to build relationships with other societies and other organizations that presently implement or could potentially better use geophysical applications.

The inaugural Institutional Contribution Award was given to the Federal Highway Administration in 2005 at EEGS' annual SAGEEP conference.  The Kansas Geological Survey was awarded in 2019 at EEGS' annual SAGEEP conference in Portland, Oregon USA and the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Environmental Programs was the most recent recipient for 2020, awarded at the virtual SAGEEP 2021. 

For more information about the award, contact [email protected].

The John Nicholl Memorial Award (formerly the Gold Award)

The John Nicholl Memorial Award recognizes an individual who has made exceptional contributions to the engineering and environmental geophysics community and to EEGS. Such contributions might include educational tools or curricula, outreach efforts, or building relationships with professional disciplines that comprise potential users of geophysics.

Past Recipients of the EEGS Gold Award:

2014: Janet E. Simms
2013: Glenn J. Rix
2012: Douglas E. Laymon
2011: Catherine Skokan
2010: Jeffrey G. Paine
2009: William E. Doll
2008: Micki Allen
2007: Jonathan Nyquist
2006: John Nicholl
2005: Ron Bell
2004: Dick Benson
2002: John Greenhouse

Recipients of the John Nicholl Memorial Award:

2024:  Dennis Mills
2023:  Charles Stoyer
2022:  Jackie Jacoby
2021:  Not awarded
2020:  Moe Momayez
2019:  Mark Dunscomb
2018:  John Stowell
2017:  Melvyn E. Best
2016:  Phil Sirles
2015:  Bruce D. Smith

The Alan Witten Best Paper Award

The Environmental and Engineering Geophysical Society is proud to offer the Best Paper Award for outstanding contribution to the Journal of Environmental and Engineering Geophysics. The award is given each year in honor of Alan Witten, the first editor of JEEG. Prof. Witten was an educator, writer, and adventurer and he had some notable discoveries under his belt, including an appearance on the History Channel, locating the longest dinosaur which was a model for the movie Jurassic Park, discovering Capt. Kidd's sunken treasure ship off Madagascar, and exploring a 6,500-year-old civilization in Israel.

The current editors of JEEG will make recommendations to the EEGS board of directors regarding potential candidates of the award. The recipient is ultimately decided by the board. The award carries the following benefits:

  • A certificate of recognition 
  • Public recognition of the contribution at SAGEEP and in FastTIMES and on the EEGS website

Recipients of the Alan Witten Award:

2023:  Ganghoon Lee, Sukjoon Pyun, Yonghyun Chung, Jehyun Shin, Myung Jin Nam, Woochang Choi, Young-chul Yu, and Seho Hwang for 3D Near-surface Velocity Model Building by Integrating Surface, Borehole Seismic, and Well-logging Data in a Small-scale Testbed

2022:  Lucie Costard for The Deserted Manor of Noer, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Geophysical Prospection Methods in Comparison."  Awarded at SAGEEP 2023.

2021:   Scott J. Ikard, USGS Texas Water Science Center for:  Investigation of Scale-Dependent Groundwater/Surfacewater Exchange in Rivers by Gradient Self-Potential Logging: Numerical Modeling and Field Experiments 

2020: Tina Martin, Lund University, Lund, Sweden for Geophysical Exploration of a Historical Stamp Mill Dump for the Volume Estimation of Valuable Residues.

2019:  G. Didem Beskardes, Geophysics Department, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM for "Power Density Distribution in Subsurface Fractures Due to an Energized Steel Well-casing Source."  Awarded at SAGEEP 2021.

2018:  Scott J. Ikard, USGS Texas Water Science Center for "New Insights on Scale-dependent Surface-Groundwater Exchange from a Floating Self-potential Dipole."  Awarded at SAGEEP 2019.

2017:  Janet Simms for In Situ Root Volume Estimation Using Ground Penetrating Radar, September, 2017 JEEG, Vol. 22, Issue 3. Awarded at SAGEEP 2018.

Newly Announced JEEG Annual "Best Reviewer" Award

The Journal of Environmental and Engineering Geophysics (JEEG) as a peer-reviewed journal, greatly depends on volunteer peer reviews. Reviewers devote much time going through new material, catching mistakes, offering suggestions, and improving the manuscript’s readability; however, their efforts remain all-too-often a thankless task. The review process is the longest lead item in getting a manuscript to print. The JEEG Editorial Board maintains the high quality of reviews while simultaneously reducing review time, which can indirectly affect the journal’s impact factor.

The Environmental and Engineering Geophysical Society (EEGS) is proud to offer the Best Reviewer Award for outstanding contribution to the JEEG. The award is presented yearly at the Symposium on the Application of Geophysics to Engineering and Environmental Problems (SAGEEP).
The Best Reviewer Award is dedicated to recognizing the reviewers’ fundamental role in the scientific publication process. It also acknowledges reviewers’ significant and ongoing contributions to the discipline of environmental and engineering geophysics by strengthening the peer-review process. The JEEG Editorial Board also hopes this award encourages people to contribute more valuable time and elevate the reviewers’ prestige.

Our honor is to introduce Fangbo Chen, China University of Geosciences, as the 2022 Best Reviewer Award.

2023: Mostafa Ebrahimi

2022:  Fangbo Chen

2021:  Joost van der Neut