Associate Professor Paula Koelemeijer receives Royal Astronomical Society Fowler Award
The Department of Earth Sciences is delighted to announce that Associate Professor Paula Koelemeijer has been awarded the 2026 Royal Astronomical Society Fowler Award for early achievement in geophysics.
The Royal Astronomical Society is the UK’s leading scientific society dedicated to encouraging and promoting the study of astronomy, solar-system science and geophysics. The Society established the Fowler Award for Geophysics in 2004, and since then it has been awarded annually to individuals who have made a particularly noteworthy contribution to geophysics at an early stage of their research career. This accolade recognises Paula’s impressive research achievements to-date, especially her work to advance our understanding of Earth’s deep interior.
Paula joined Oxford Earth Sciences in 2022 as an Associate Professor, Royal Society University Research Fellow and Tutorial Fellow at Exeter College. Prior to this, she obtained a PhD in Seismology from the University of Cambridge and held individual research fellowships at ETH Zurich, University College Oxford, University College London and Royal Holloway. Her research encompasses a diverse range of applications of seismology, ranging from global tomography to image deep Earth structure, to seismic noise for studying human and animal behaviour.
"It is a real honour to receive the Fowler Award from the Royal Astronomical Society. I feel fortunate that my passion for unravelling signals hidden in seismic data is being recognised and I am proud to represent the geophysics community with this award. It is not just reflection of my work, but also acknowledges a large group of people I have had the pleasure of working with."
- Associate Professor Paula Koelemeijer
She is renowned for her expertise in normal modes, some of the most complex seismic signals used to probe Earth’s interior. Recently, her research has revealed the evolutionary history of two continent-sized structures in the deep mantle and detailed how a landslide-induced tsunami shook the Earth for days. Alongside her research, Paula is a dedicated supervisor of both masters and DPhil students and teaches a variety of geophysics courses to our undergraduates. She is also an avid supporter of outreach and public engagement, making use of 3D printing to develop inclusive outreach materials.
“We are delighted to learn that the Royal Astronomical Society is awarding its Fowler Early Career Award to Paula Koelemeijer. The award recognises particularly noteworthy contributions to geophysics from scientists at an early career stage, and Paula is a most deserving recipient. This award is a testament to the quality of Paula’s research, to her collegiality and contributions to mentoring other scientists, and to her status as a leader in the field of seismology.”
- Professor Conall MacNiocaill, Head of Department
Congratulations to Paula on this well-deserved honour!
A full list of 2026 RAS award and medal winners can be found on the RAS website.
