Early-Career Award

PAGES is pleased to announce the inaugural Early-Career Award (ECA) 2024 recipient is Dr. Oana Dumitru.

Oana is a carbonate geochemist and paleoclimatologist interested in reconstructing past sea-level changes across glacial-interglacial timescales. In her own words, Oana describes her goals as follows:
"By refining our understanding of past sea-level fluctuations, I aim to contribute to more precise projections for sea-level changes in the future. I am committed to seek creative projects and initiatives designed to expand access for those underrepresented in the Earth sciences. Only with a diverse workforce and everyone involved, will we be able to tackle the climate challenges that lie ahead.

Oana completed her first PhD in Environmental Science in Romania before heading to America where she completed her second PhD in Geology. She will be starting a position as an Assistant Professor at the University of Florida, Gainesville, USA.

The colleagues who nominated Oana for a PAGES ECA spoke very highly of not only her academic path and impressive publication record for the level of a post doc, including a including a high profile Nature paper on Pliocene sea level, which focused on cave speleothems in Mallorca, but also her exceptional teaching skills - whilst also being a pleasure to work with.

Amongst the many successful projects and leadership roles she has taken on throughout her career to date, Oana is also fully committed to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) in the field, and while at Lamont designed a project to engage and educate students who have not had traditionally equal access to opportunities in geochronology methods.

The PAGES 2024 Early-Career Award will be presented at PAGES' 7th Open Science Meeting (OSM) to be held in Shanghai, China in 2025. Oana will also present her work during the meeting.

Oana would like to express her gratitude for receiving the award. "I am honored to be the recipient of this award and grateful for this incredible recognition. I look forward to participate and share my work during the OSM meeting in Shanghai in 2025".

> Access Oana's Google Scholar page here

Below is a selective list of Oana's media and outreach coverage:

2022: LDEO Open House – Past sea level reconstruction using fossil corals
2022: Participation in the documentary series "Surviving Hothouse Earth" by ZDF and Arte (www.arte.tv)
2021: https://phys.org/news/2021-01-geoscientists-reconstruct-million-years-sea.html
2020: Pliocene sea level snapshots. Science Breaker, https://doi.org/10.25250/thescbr.brk354
2017-2019: Organizer of the Best of Karst events for Karst Research Group, USF
2019: https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/environment/scientists-predict-16m-sea-level-rise-even-ifthe-
earth-stops-warming-right-now/ar-AAGBhOP

ECA Award 2023: Dr. Kevin Nota

PAGES is pleased to announce the inaugural Early-Career Award (ECA) 2023 recipient is Dr. Kevin Nota.

Kevin has a PhD in molecular paleoecology from Uppsala University. He is currently a postdoc at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.

Kevin noted that "Communicating science, networking, and helping young researchers to do science gives me a lot of joy and satisfaction as an early career researcher. I was very fortunate to have been in the right place at the right time to be active in the sedaDNA society and be able to collaborate with an Artist. With this award, I hope I can continue doing my part!"

The colleagues who nominated Kevin recognized his involvement in actively promoting, communicating, and disseminating science to a broader audience. They also acknowledge his expertise in ancient sedimentary DNA, not only in using existing methods, but also in developing new ones.

They were interested in how paintings were created with an artist, and attracted attention outside of science. Kevin's leadership abilities, in playing a central role in the organization board of the sedaDNA scientific society and coordinating PhD and undergraduate seminars, were also extremely well regarded.

The award will be presented at PAGES' 7th Open Science Meeting (OSM) to be held in 2025. Kevin will also present his work during the meeting.

ECA Award 2021: Dr. Alicja Bonk

PAGES is pleased to announce the inaugural Early-Career Award (ECA) 2021 recipient is Dr. Alicja Bonk.

Alicja is an Assistant Professor and Principal Investigator in the Division of Geomorphology and Quaternary Geology at the Institute of Geography, University of Gdańsk, Poland.

She is an oceanographer specializing in marine geology, who now focuses on annually laminated lake sediments.

Alicja said it was an honour to receive the first PAGES ECA. "I am honestly surprised and touched by this decision," she said. "I promise to continue my efforts to improve my research and scientific outreach, and will be delighted to share my work with the PAGES community during the OSM."

The colleagues who nominated her recognized her expertize in paleolimnology, her cross-disciplinary work to improve knowledge of past global changes in East-Central Europe, and her ability to establish new collaborations. The ECA Committee also took into consideration her involvement in the development of the PAGES Early-Career Network (ECN) and continued work within the group.

The award will be presented at PAGES' virtual 6th Open Science Meeting (OSM) held in May 2022. Alicja will also present her work during the meeting