Graduate Student at Scripps Earns Recognition for Remarkable Research Paper
**Diego Melgar Wins Prestigious Edward A. Frieman Prize for Earth Sciences Research**
Diego Melgar, a graduate student at UC San Diego's Scripps Oceanography, has been awarded the 19th Edward A. Frieman Prize for Excellence in Graduate Student Research in Earth Sciences. This prestigious award, established in 1996 to honour the eighth director of Scripps, Edward A. Frieman, on his 70th birthday, acknowledges and supports the next generation of researchers in earth sciences, fostering excellence and innovation in their work.
Melgar's research focuses on the problem of local tsunami warnings, aiming to create solutions for responding to natural disasters like earthquakes and tsunamis. His passion for science and geophysics, sparked as a young boy in Mexico where earthquakes and volcanoes were common, led him to this groundbreaking work.
In his paper, "Near-field tsunami models with rapid earthquake source inversions from land- and ocean-based observations: The potential for forecast and warning," published in the November 2013 issue of the Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, Melgar demonstrates the potential to calculate a reasonable model of an earthquake and tsunami within minutes using both land- and ocean-based sensors. This could provide immediate warning to coastal areas adjacent to large earthquakes, potentially saving lives.
Scripps Research Geodesist Yehuda Bock co-authored Melgar's paper, contributing to this significant achievement. Winning the Frieman Prize feels great to Melgar, as it signifies the community's recognition of his efforts.
Although basin-wide warnings for earthquakes exist, regional warnings have not yet been implemented. Melgar's research could pave the way for the development of these regional warnings, bridging the information gap and ensuring a more rapid and effective response to natural disasters.
The Edward A. Frieman Prize will be formally presented to Melgar at the Scripps Day celebration on June 13, 2014. For more information about the prize and a list of previous recipients, visit the Edward A. Frieman Prize page.
Melgar's scientific research in the field of earthquakes and tsunamis, as demonstrated in his paper, could significantly enhance education-and-self-development by providing a foundation for developing regional tsunami warning systems, thereby improving response times to natural disasters and potentially saving lives. The Edward A. Frieman Prize, an acknowledgement of excellence in earth sciences research, is a testament to the importance of science in promoting education and self-development.
