Community Profile – Dr. Tanya Atwater

Dr. Tanya Atwater

Who has heard of Dr. Tanya Atwater in their geology class, or plate tectonics theory class, or on the news every time there is an earthquake in California? Not me. That’s mostly due to the ongoing legacy of sexism in science, and partly because the Geological Society of America is controlling most of Tanya Atwater’s pioneering research publications – blocking the public from viewing her work unless you pay them off.. or really dig to find her work elsewhere.

This ugly ballooning practice of charging a fee or a membership requirement to view scientific publications is thwarting aspiring scientists and the general public alike from the truth and knowledge that our educations and the planet depends on. In addition, most aspiring female geoscientists are kept in the dark about scientists such as Tanya Atwater’s pioneering and groundbreaking research; in Atwater’s case, research that places her as one of the world’s foremost experts on seafloor tectonics, and the evolution of western North America.

Following years of refusals by the male scientific establishment, in 1965 Tanya Atwater became the first woman to be allowed to participate as a researcher aboard an oceanographic expedition. Atwater received her doctorate in geophysics and marine geology in 1972 from Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and went on to lead many more oceanographic expeditions over the decades, as well as to teach at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Scripps Institution of Oceanography (where she was the first female faculty member), and long term as an esteemed professor emeritus at UC Santa Barbara.

Atwater’s groundbreaking scientific contributions and discoveries include the understanding and application of the geophysics of seafloor spreading centers, the discovery and description of propagating rifts, magnetic isochron mapping, and Cenozoic plate reconstructions.. just to name a few. Her scientific publications have been notably cited hundreds of times (very rare), and her seminal 1970 paper regarding the tectonic evolution of western North America has been cited in scientific publications over one thousand times. She earned the title, Mother of Plate Tectonics, for her definitive studies and description of the tectonics and evolution of the San Andreas Fault system and Western North America.

Atwater was chief scientist on a 1978 Alvin submersible expedition to study spreading processes on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Credit: Courtesy of Tanya Atwater

Tanya Atwater believes that deep understanding of the earth leads to deep caring about the earth. Atwater’s parents were both scientists (mother a botanist and father an engineer) who actively nurtured and encouraged their children to explore and love nature, and to carry a scientific curiosity and ethic throughout their lives. In 1940’s and 50’s southern California, they encouraged their daughters to explore the wilderness and to follow their passions in higher education and on to professional careers; a rarity.

In an earlier interview, Atwater describes this unconventional mid-century upbringing: “(my father) viewed every child as a bundle of potential. He felt it was the grown-ups’ job to let us know we could do anything. My parents believed in the importance of being attached to wilderness and loving and understanding it. Back in the old days, before seat belts, they had this huge truck. They’d put my siblings and me and all of our friends in the back along with our camping gear, take us out to the desert, dump us on the sand, and let us be our wild selves.”

Along with unraveling the evolution of seafloors and continents, an evolution also occurred in Atwater’s view of the scientific process and science education: over the years she learned to embrace and impart the excitement and passion she holds for her field. Atwater has expressed that she no longer sees it necessary to separate emotion from science. Passion and excitement for deeper understanding leads to robust scientific inquiry and inspirational educational experiences.

In 2019 Atwater was awarded the prestigious Penrose Medal by the Geological Society of America for her work in the field of tectonics. She has also been the recipient of many honors and awards, including the Newcomb Cleveland Prize from the American Association for the Advancement of Science; the Encourage Award from the Association of Women Geoscientists; election to the National Academy of Sciences; the National Science Foundation’s Director’s Award for Distinguished Teaching Scholars; the Leopold von Buch Medal from the German Geosciences Society; a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Structure and Tectonics Section of the Geological Society of America; and an Emmy Award for Instructional Programming. Tanya Atwater used her National Science Foundation award to finance one of her legacy educational passion projects, the Educational Multimedia Visualization Center at UC Santa Barbara.