Utah State University Associate Professor of Earthquake Geology Alexis Ault was chosen as a National Academy of Sciences 2023 Kavli Fellow. She and 118 honorees attended the Frontiers of Science Symposium this October in Dresden, Germany.
“It was unlike anything I've done before to participate in this symposium," Ault said. "And just everyday my brain just broke and I put it back together and it broke and I put it back together. Because I was learning; I was thinking about things that I had never thought about.”
This prestigious National Academy of Sciences fellowship recognizes a select cohort of young scientists to present at the Japanese-American-German Frontiers of Science Symposium.
“To sit down with somebody who studies gravitational lensing from the James Webb telescope, someone who studies how the Japanese tit communicates, to then say well, I study earthquakes, and I study how the material properties in space and time influence fault and earthquake behavior. We do very different things," Ault said. "But we want to try to communicate our science and then have a meaningful conversation. And you never know what kinds of ideas might stem out of that.“
Collaborative science is essential for academics like Ault to work in an interdisciplinary team. She uses this in her work in the St. Andreas fault in California, as well as in Turkey.
“As an example, I am leading a team of scientists and we all have our expertise, but we need to talk to one another. And we need to develop a similar language," Ault said.
Ault said that as great as accolades are, it’s important to consider what honorees like her can take away from the symposium and apply to their future work.
“Being able to contribute to the science that underpins earthquake behavior also hopefully has an impact on the broader public and our community," Ault said.
If you’d like to learn more, Ault will be presenting in the Eccles Science Learning Center in Logan on Friday, April 12, 2024.
