Awards and Recognitions
Awards, Fellowships and Distinguished Lectures
2020 The University of Lausanne, Switzerland, bestowed on Gerta Keller the title of Doctor Honoris Causa in recognition of her major contribution to the mass extinction controversy of the Cretaceous-Tertiary period.
2020 Distinguished lecture: Shaw Prize, Shaw Institute, Blue Hill, Maine, postponed to 2020 due to family emergency
2020 Distinguished lecture: Colleges 1942 Class Speaker Series, Bridgewater State University, Massachusetts, "Dinosaur Wars: Extinction by Asteroid or Volcanism – Are we the next Dinosaurs?"
2019 Oct. Distinguished lecture: Moore lecture, University of Virginia, Charlottesville: "Dinosaur Wars: Extinction by Asteroid or Volcanism – Are we the next Dinosaurs?"
2019 Sept. Invited lecture: Great Controversies in Sciences, GSA Phoenix: "Dinosaur Wars: The Nastiest Controversy 1980-2020"
2019 July Distinguished lecture: Hugh Morris Lecture, University of Victoria, Ca: "Dinosaur Wars: Extinctiion by Asteroid or Volcanism – Are we the next Dinosaurs?"
2019 March Distinguished lecture: Thomas G. Bullen, Memorial Lecture Series in Science and Technology ,Iona College NY: "Dinosaur Wars: Extinction by Asteroid or Volcanism."
2019 Feb. Invited lecture, Florida State University, Tallhassee: "Paroxysmal Deccan Eruptions, Climate change and the End-Cretaceous Mass Extinction"
2012 Radhakrishna Prize for research on Deccan volcanism linked to the end-Cretaceous mass extinction.
1991-1996 NSF Faculty Award for Women Scientists and Engineers
1991 SEPM Outstanding Paper of the Year Award
1980-1981 National Research Council Fellowship, USGS Menlo Park
1974-1978 Danforth Fellowship
1977 Stanford University Fellowship
1975-1976 Stanford University Fellowship
1974 National Association of Geology Teachers Award
1973 Research Grant to study invertebrates
1973 Scholarship San Francisco State University
1972 Purcell and Lamb Scholarship
Major Invited Presentations at Other Academic Institutions and Scientific Meetings
2000
- Ben Gurion University, Beer Sheba, Israel lectures (March)
- International Conference: "Asteroids, Meteorites, Impacts & Consequences", Nordlingen
- International Conference: "Catastrophies", Vienna July 2000 - Plenary Lecture
- Swiss Geological Society Annual Meeting Winterthur Plenary lecture
- MIT Colloquium lecture (Sept)
- Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America, lecture
- AAPG Conference, Boston (March)
- University of California, Santa Barbara (May) Colloquium
- Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America, lecture
- Cretaceous Climate Workshop (NSF), Florissant, CO (July)
- International Micropaleontologic Congress, Plenary Speaker, Perth, Australia (Oct)
- Black Shales Conference, lecture, Geol. Soc. London (Dec.)
- EUG-AUG meeting, Nice, France, special Session: "Chixulub Drilling" (April) Lecture
- 3rd International Conference: "Large Meteorite Impacts", Nordlingen, Germany (August)
- Cardiff Conference: "Mantle Plumes and Biotice effects", Plenary Speaker, England (Sept)
- University of Neuchatel, Switzerland (May) Colloquium lecture
- University of Karlsruhe, Germany, Colloquium lecture (June)
- University of Paris 6, Institute Physique du Globe (July) Colloquium lecture
- Sigma Xi lecture, Princeton University (Oct.)
- Annual Meeting of the Geol. Soc. America, Impact Symposium Lecture (invited)
- Evolution Symposium, Princeton University, lecture (Dec)
- Haydon Planetarium Lecture, New York Museum of Natural History, lecture (April)
- Paleontological Society, NJ (May); Keynote Lecture
- Intern. Symposium on the Cretaceous, University of Neuchatel, Keynote lecture (Sept.)
- Binghamton University, NY Colloquium Lecture (Nov.
- AGU Baltimore (May) lecture
- GSA Ann. Meeting Philadelphia (Oct) invited Public lecture
- GSA Ann. Meting Invited lecture in two special sessions
- GSA Press Conference on new results of Keller’s team
- University of Munich, Germany (Nov) Colloquium lecture
- University of Neuchatel (Nov) Colloquium lecture;
- University of Paris 6, Physique de Globe de Paris Colloquium lecture (May)
- AGU-EUG Acapulco, Mexico, lecture (May)
- GSA Ann. Meeting, Denver, invited lecture, GSA Press release on new results
- Birbal Institute, Lucknow, India, Plenary lecture (Nov)
- AAPG Conference, Chennai, India, Keynote lecture
- Oil & Natural Gas Corp. Research Institute, Dehra Dun, India (Jan) Lecture
- “II Simposio Geocientífico Internacional” Keynote Lecture (June);
- AGU San Francisco, lecture and AGU Press conference
- NSF press conference on new Deccan results of Keller’s team (Dec).
- Oil & Natural Gas Corp. Research Institute, Dehra Dun, India, Lecture (Feb);
- RECCCE Workshop, IGP, April 2009, Gams, Austria, Invited Lecture (April);
- EUG Meeting, Vienna, Austria, Lecture (April);
- International Symposium on the Cretaceous, Plymouth, GB, Lecture (Sept);
- GSA Annual Meeting, Portland, keynote lecture, GSA press conference,
- NSF press conference on new Deccan results (Nov)
- Oil & Natural Gas Corp. Research Institute, Dehra Dun, India Lecture (Feb)
- Adikavi Nannaya University, Rajahmundry, India, Lecture (Feb)
- EGU Vienna, invited lecture, EGU press conference (April)
- University of Lausanne, Switzerland, Colloquium Lecture (Sept)
- Presidential Address, XXXIII Colloquium on Micropaleontology and Stratigraphy, Bangalore, India (Dec); Keynote address: XXXIII Colloquium on Micropaleontology and Stratigraphy, Bangalore, India (Dec)
- Colloquium lecture to Fellows of the Geological Society of India, Bangalore (Dec)
- Colloquium lecture, Northwest University, Xian, China (Sept)
- 2012: Colloquium lecture, Ana University, Chennai, India (Feb)
- AGU San Francisco, Lecture (Dec)
- AGU San Francisco (invited lecture)
- International Conf. on "Volcanism, Impacts and Mass Extinctions", London (March)
- Keynote lecture, 9th Cretaceous Symposium, Ankara, Turkey (Sept)
- Colloquium lecture, Dartmouth College (April)
- GSA Annual Meeting, Vancouver (Oct.), Pardee Symposium lecture (invited);
- GSA Annual Meeting, Vancouver (Oct.) Invited lecture (T206).
- Women’s Club of Princeton, invited lecture, Nov. 2014
- GSA Annual Meeting, Baltimore, invited lecture, Oct. 2015
- EGU Technical session SSP1 "Volcanism, Impacts, Mass Extinctions, and Global Environmental Change” Vienna, April 2015, Lecture.
- Men’s Club of Princeton, Nov. 2015
- EGU Annual Meeting, Vienna, Lecture
- GSA Annual Meeting, Denver, 2 Lectures, one invited
2017
- Colloquium lecture (Feb), Florida State University,
- EGU Annual Meeting, Vienna, Lecture
- GSA Annual Meeting, Seattle, Lecture, Co-organizer of special sessions
- 2018: EGU Annual Meeting, Vienna, Lecture
- Colloquium lecture, (Feb), Florida State University
- Colloquium lecture, India Institute of Technology, Bombay, India
- 2019: Colloo quium lecture, Florida State University (Feb.)
- Colloquium lecture, Iona College (April)
- EGU, Vienna, (April)
- GSA Phoenix, invited lecture
Press Conferences and Documentaries
2007 Press release GSA: "Megavolcanoes and Dinosaurs"
2008 Press release NSF: "Did volcanoes kill the dinosaurs?"
2008 Press release AGU: "Volcanoes and mass extinctions"
2009 Press release GSA: "Chicxulub predates KT mass extinction"
2009 Press release NSF: "Chicxulub predates KT mass extinction"
2010 Press release EUG: "Volcanoes and mass extinctions"
2011 Press release Princeton University: "Mass exinction linked to Deccan Volcanism"
2012 AGU organized Press Conference (Dec. 15) based on our presentations on India’s Deccan volcanism and the KT mass extinctions
2012 NSF sponsored Press Conference on Dec. 17. Articles appeared in many newspapers and magazines including Nature, Science News, Der Spiegel, San Francisco Chronicle, Fox News, BBC
2013 International Conference on "Volcanism, Impacts and Mass Extinctions: Causes and Effects", London march 27-29, 2013. Co-organizer
2014 GSA sponsored Press Conference (Oct. 2014)
2014 GSA Annual Meeting, Vancouver Oct. 19-22, 2014. Co-organizer of the Pardee Symposium and Technical Session 206 on "Mass Extinctions: Volcanism, impactsand catastrophic environmental change"
2015 GSA Annual Meeting and Press Conference (Oct. 2015), Co-organizer of Topical Session on "Volcanism and Impacts"
2016 EGU (European Geophysical Union, Annual Meeting, Vienna) Co-organizer of TopicalSession on "Mass extinctions and LIPs volcanism"
2016 GSA Annual Meeting, Co-organizer of Topical Session on "Mass extinctions and LargeIgneous Province volcanism"
2017 GSA Annual Meeting, Co-organizer of Topical Session on "Volcanism, Impacts and Environmental consequences"
2018 EGU (European Geophysical Union, Annual Meeting, Vienna) Co-organizer of Topical Session on progress in "Mass extinctions and LIPs volcanism", EGU organized Press Conference
2019 GSA Annual Meeting, Co-organizer of Topical Session (Phoenix, Arizona): "Volcanism, Impacts and Phanerozoic Mass Extinctions: Discovering a common cause and planning for the 6th Mass Extinction"
Documentaries and Scripted Films
2004 BBC HORIZON Documentary “What really killed the Dinosaurs” based on Keller’s team findings that Chicxulub impact predates the KT mass extinction. https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x22682z
2005 History Channel documentary Meteors: Fire in the Sky. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoM7SHlgsPs
2005 TV Interview with Alexander Kluge, Der Mega-Einschlag und die Dinosaurier – Gerta Keller ueber das Massensterben vor 65 millionen Jahren. (Alexander Kluge is a German icon, celebrated social critic, major fiction writer, and filmmaker. He has received numerous literary, TV, and film awards. I was honored when he visited Princeton in 2005 to interview me about the Dinosaur mass extinction.)
2009 History Channel Documentary “First Apocalypse” highlighted Keller et al.s theory that the dinosaur extinction was most likely caused by volcanism. Released Jan. 7, 2009. 6 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LReuI0WtHcs
ABC News, May 24, 2009 Moises Velasquez-Manoff’s “Did Asteroids Really Do in the Dinosaurs?: Scientists Challenge the Story of How the Dinosaurs’ 160-Million-Year Reign Came to an End.”
2019-2020 In progress, documentary on Volcanism and mass Extinctions.
2020 In progress, scripted film: “Dinosaur Wars: The Gerta Keller Story”
Print and Web Media
I have been the subject of numerous media articles, perhaps most notably:
• Bianca Bosker, “The Nastiest Feud in Science” The Atlantic (2018).
• BBC Science Focus Magazine, interviewed by Andy Ridgway (2019). https://www.sciencefocus.com/planet-earth/mass-extinction-can-we-stop-it/
• Julia Rosen’s “Down to Earth with: Paleontologist Gerta Keller” in EARTH magazine (2017). https://www.earthmagazine.org/article/down-earth-paleontologist-gerta-keller
• Richard Stone’s “Back from the Dead” in Science (Issue 346, 2014). https://science.sciencemag.org/content/346/6215/1281
• Diane E. Banegas, National Science Foundation (NSF) "Discovery: Volcanos, Not Asteroid may have taken out the Dinosaurs: New theory on the Dinosaur’s demise looks to India." nsf.gov - National Science Foundation (NSF) Discoveries https://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp?cntn_id=112784
• Donna Gialanella, "Digging for Answers: Paleontologist won't back down on theory of dinosaur extinction. "The Star-Ledger, New Jersey, Jan. 27, 2008. Gerta Keller – nj.com. https://www.nj.com/iamnj/2008/01/keller.html
• Andrea Thompson, "Dinosaur Killer may have been killed by Volcanism, Not Asteroid," Yahoo News, 12.15.2008. LiveScience.com
• Richard Lovett’s “’Dinosaur Killer’ Asteroid Only One Part of New QuadrupleWhammy Theory” in National Geographic (2006). NSF Discovery, 12.8.2008.
• Chris Hedges’s “PUBLIC LIVES: Where Dinosaurs Roamed, She Throws Stones” in the New York Times (2003). https://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/17/nyregion/public-lives-where-dinosaurs-roamed-she-throws-stones.html
• Rex Dalton’s “Hot Tempers, Hard Core” in Nature (2003). It should be noted that the articles Rex published on my work in 2003 and 2004 publicized the impact controversy and contributed to one of my most important talks going viral. He continues to keep in touch.
