Whitney Behr Named Outstanding Woman in Science

November 2, 2015

Whitney Behr, an assistant professor in the Department of Geological Sciences at the Jackson School of Geosciences, received the 2013 Subaru Outstanding Woman in Science Award. In partnership with Subaru, the Geological Society of America (GSA) confers the annual award to a woman who has made a significant impact on the geosciences with her Ph.D. research.

Behr’s research focused on the measurement of flow stress in ductilely deformed rocks from various depths in the crust in southeastern California and southern Spain.

“Her primary contribution was verifying the strength of the crust with depth,” said Dean Sharon Mosher. “But she also investigated the apparent discrepancies between geologic and geodetic slip rates on faults and the mechanical properties of intracontinental subduction zones.”

Mosher served as GSA’s president when the award was established in 2001 in memory of Doris M. Curtis, GSA’s first female president.

“I came up with the idea of awarding it specifically to women three years out from their Ph.D. to encourage young women to stay in the field,” Mosher said.

Behr completed her Ph.D. at the University of Southern California in 2011 and joined the Jackson School in 2012. She is the second Jackson School faculty member to receive the award. Assistant professor Jaime Barnes was honored in 2009.