Memorial’s Faculty of Science’s Earth Sciences department received international recognition recently, as Drs. Luke Beranek and J. Kim Welford were recognized by the 50 Under 50 award.
50 Under 50 is a joint award between the Geological Society of America (GSA), Geological Association of Canada (GAC) and Sociedad Geológica Mexicana (SGM).
The award honours outstanding mid-career geoscientists across North America who are making significant contributions through leadership, scientific excellence, impactful research, service to the global geoscience community and mentorship of students, colleagues and peers across North America.
“This is a big deal,” said Dr. Stephen Piercey, a professor and researcher in the Department of Earth Sciences. “To have two awardees from Memorial be recognized from a pool of greater than 18,000 members across the three geoscientific organizations is quite incredible and really illustrates the talent of our colleagues and their impact on North American geoscience.”
“I would say that Drs. Welford and Beranek each have a knack for thinking outside the box that has served them well,” said department head and professor Dr. Gregory Dunning. “The local petroleum geoscientific community follows their research closely, as it has high relevance to exploration offshore.”
Dr. Luke Beranek
A professor and deputy head in the department of Earth Sciences, Dr. Beranek established a research program at Memorial University in 2013 after completing post-doctoral training at the Geological Survey of Canada and Stockholm University.
He completed his PhD at the University of British Columbia in the field of geological sciences in 2009.
His lab group uses ancient sedimentary and volcanic rocks to reconstruct the motions of Earth’s lithospheric plates and constrain the landscape evolution of continental margins, with a specific focus on the Canadian Arctic Islands, Svalbard archipelago, Grand Banks of Newfoundland and western Portugal.
Dr. Beranek’s recent projects have been funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Natural Resources Canada, Equinor Canada, Suncor Energy and the Swedish Research Council.
As a faculty supervisor and mentor, he is committed to fostering research-intensive environments that prepare undergraduate and graduate students with the core skills necessary to become decision-makers and have impactful positions in government, industry or academia.
He is passionate about service and has sustained leadership roles as an associate editor for Precambrian Research and the Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, and as vice-chair and treasurer of the Canadian Tectonics Group, and contributes to scientific networks that investigate circum-Arctic geology and natural resources.
“Receiving this award is deeply meaningful because it recognizes not only my contributions to geoscience through research, but also the positive impact I have been fortunate to make through mentorship, collaboration and service to the scientific community,” he said.
Dr. J. Kim Welford
Dr. Welford is a professor in the Department of Earth Sciences, where she leads the Memorial Applied Geophysics for Rift Tectonics research group.
She holds a B.Sc. in planetary sciences from McGill University and an M.Sc. and a PhD in geophysics and seismology from the University of British Columbia.
As a seismologist with extensive expertise in potential field methods and kinematic plate reconstructions, she embraces a multidisciplinary research approach to solving earth science problems.
She is most passionate about lithospheric-scale plate tectonic targets, particularly those focused on extensional tectonics and rifted margins, with the margins of the North Atlantic Ocean acting as her primary research laboratory.
Her latest scientific endeavour has involved the deployment of 23 broadband seismic stations across the island as part of the ongoing Passive Array for Critical Minerals on the Island of Newfoundland project, funded by Natural Resources Canada.
Dr. Welford’s other recent projects have primarily been funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, with industry support from TGS Canada, the Oil and Gas Corporation of NL, and Husky Energy, now Cenovus Energy.
Her service includes a decade of volunteer work with the Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of N.L., as well as editorships with Communications Earth & Environment and the community-led Diamond-Open Access journal Tektonika.
Since 2021, she has been a co-convener and co-organizer for the Rift and Rifted Margins Online Seminar Series.
“Mid-career awards are quite rare in the earth sciences and it’s heartening to see one’s efforts recognized while one’s research momentum is at its apex,” she said. “Early career awards, while more numerous, can disadvantage those of us with more non-linear paths to academia. It is uplifting to see that the GSA, GAC, and SGM are celebrating this important career stage.”
