Two UMCES Scientists Honored by American Geophysical Union (AGU)

Left: Dr. Patricia Glibert. Right: Dr. Jaqueline Grebmeier.

Annapolis, MD — UMCES celebrates honors bestowed upon two faculty members by the American Geophysical Union (AGU). Dr. Jacqueline (Jackie) Grebmeier of Chesapeake Biological Laboratory has been honored with a Rachel Carson Lecture Award from the AGU for 2026. The Carson award is given to recognize cutting-edge work in ocean science research by a woman scientist and gives them the opportunity to present an extended lecture at the AGU annual meeting.

Dr. Patricia (Pat) Glibert of Horn Point Laboratory was elected as a Union Fellow for AGU in recognition of a distinguished career studying Phytoplankton Ecology. AGU Fellows aim to foster excellence, integrity, and collaboration in Earth and space sciences, advise the AGU on global scientific issues, and support the professional development and engagement of scientists at all career stages and from all backgrounds. This honor is bestowed upon no more than 0.1% of the members of the AGU society.

AGU, the world’s largest Earth and space science association, celebrates individuals and teams through its annual Honors and Recognition program for their accomplishments in research, education, science communication, and outreach. These honorees have transformed our understanding of the world, impacted our everyday lives, improved our communities and contributed to solutions for a sustainable future.

Dr. Jackie Grebmeier’s oceanographic research interests are related to pelagic-benthic coupling, benthic carbon cycling, and benthic faunal population structure in the marine environment. Over the last 40 years, her field research program in the Arctic has focused on such topics as understanding how water column processes influence biological productivity in Arctic waters and sediments, how materials are exchanged between the sea bed and overlying waters, and documenting longer-term trends in ecosystem health of Arctic continental shelves.

“It was an honor of course to receive this recognition to give the Rachel Carson Lecture and the opportunity to provide a presentation on my Arctic research at UMCES at the American Geophysical Union meeting that attracts tens of thousands of scientists to meet for scientific information exchange,” Grebmeier said. “It’s also special for me that the lecture is named for Maryland resident Rachel Carson, who was a leader in relating ecosystem health and man-induced pollutants to the public when the activities of women scientists were limited.”

Dr. Pat Glibert is a phytoplankton ecologist broadly interested in the effects of nutrients and algal blooms. Her work ranges from the global, addressing such questions as how are nutrient loads changing with changing land use/fertilizer use practices, to the physiological, investigating such questions as how do different species of phytoplankton respond to different forms and loads of nutrients and why.

“It is a great honor to be elected a Fellow of AGU. I am humbled. I sincerely want to thank my nominators,” Glibert said. One such nominator was Donald Boesch, UMCES President Emeritus. Boesch said of Glibert, “I came to greatly appreciate Pat’s relentless pursuit of her science, caring mentorship of numerous graduate students who have gone on to distinguished careers, and stellar contributions to our increasingly eminent institution.”

Grebmeier and Glibert join a distinguished group of scientists, leaders and communicators recognized by AGU for advancing science. Each honoree reflects AGU’s vision for a thriving, sustainable and equitable future supported by scientific discovery, innovation and action.

“Both Pat and Jackie represent the finest that UMCES has to offer,” UMCES President Fernando Miralles-Wilhelm said. “Their dedication to science, scholarship, and the world around us will have a lasting impact, and their awards from AGU reflect that.”

Honorees will be recognized with a medal and certificate at AGU’s 2026 Annual Meeting, AGU26, which will convene more than 25,000 attendees from over 100 countries in San Francisco, CA, and online everywhere December 7-11, 2026.

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AGU (www.agu.org) is a global community supporting more than half a million professionals and advocates in the Earth and space sciences. Through broad and inclusive partnerships, AGU aims to advance discovery and solution science that accelerate knowledge and create solutions that are ethical, unbiased and respectful of communities and their values. Our programs include serving as a scholarly publisher, convening virtual and in-person events and providing career support. We live our values in everything we do, such as our net zero energy renovated building in Washington, D.C. and our Ethics and Equity Center, which fosters a diverse and inclusive geoscience community to ensure responsible conduct.

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The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) leads the way toward better management of Maryland’s natural resources and the protection and restoration of the Chesapeake Bay. From a network of laboratories located across the state, our scientists provide sound advice to help state and national leaders manage the environment and prepare future scientists to meet the global challenges of the 21st century. To learn more about UMCES, visit www.umces.edu.

AGU press contact:
Liza Lester, +1 (202) 998-8654, news@agu.org (UTC-4 hours)

UMCES press contact:
Andrew Benson, abenson@umces.edu (UTC-4 hours)