For many people, the Global Positioning System (GPS) is just a helpful gadget in a smart phone, but GPS has also revolutionized the geosciences. Professor Kristine Larson, whose career has coincided with this GPS revolution, will explain the “traditional” applications of GPS in geosciences and share insights into the new environmental applications her group has developed.

Professor Larson joined CU Boulder in the Smead Aerospace Engineering Sciences department in 1990. With her colleagues at CU, she has worked on a diverse set of GPS research projects, including measuring deformation across the Nepal Himalaya, synchronizing atomic clocks, and assessing the variability of Greenland ice sheet speeds. 

The Distinguished Research Lectureship is among the highest honors bestowed by the faculty upon a faculty member at CU Boulder. Each year, the Research & Innovation Office requests nominations from faculty for this award, and a faculty review panel recommends one or more faculty members as recipients.