Carlo Laj - Curriculum Vitae#

Current Position & Institution

• Emeritus Professor, École Normale Supérieure
  

Education

• 1969 PhD (Solid State Physics)
  
• 1966 Master (Solid State Physics)
  
• 1964 Studies in Physics and Chemistry at the Univ. of Orsay (Paris XI), France
  
• 1958 Maturità; High School Diploma in Italy (Liceo Righi, Roma)
  
• June 1956 High School Diploma, New Trier Township, High School, Winnetka, Illinois USA (American Field Service, Exchange Student)
  
• Since 2001 Founder and Chairman, EGU Committee on Education
  
• 2002 - 2008 Member Committee on Education and Human ressources, AGU

Career

• 1975-1985 Research Scientist, Service de Physique des Solides et Résonance Magnétique, CE- Saclay
  
• 1985-1995 Research Scientist – founder Paleomagnetic Laboratory, Centre des Faibles Radioactivités CEA-CNRS
  
• 1985-Dec 1996 Head of Department, Earth and Environmental Sciences, CEA/DSM, CE Saclay
  
• 1991-Dec.1996 Founder and Director, Laboratoire de Modélisation du Climat et de l’Environnement (LMCE)
  
• 1997-Dec. 2001 Senior Research Scientist, CEA – LSCE
  
• 2001 Present Emeritus Professor École Normale Supérieure, Paris

Experience and responsibilities

• Supervisor of 16 PhD theses
  
• Associate Editor of Journal of Geophysical Research (2003 - 2007)
  
• Member of the Administration Board of the Institut de Physique du Globe Paris (1995 - 1997)
  
• Member of the Scientific Council of the Institut Pierre Simon Laplace (IPSL) (1995 - 1997)
  
• Member of the Steering Committee of the program "Rapid Global Geological Events" of the National Environmental Research Council (NERC), Great Britain (1998 - 1999)
  
• President of the Aeromagnetic Imaging Committee of the Programme Imagerie et Structure de la Terre (IST) of the l'INSU/CNRS (1991-94)
  
• Member Inter-organism council of the National Program for the Study of Climate Dynamics (PNEDC) (1996 - 1998)

Experience at Sea, numerous oceanographic expedition including the following: ODP Leg 184 South China Sea,1999 ; Arabian Sea, 2000; Geosciences 2 (Mediterranean), 2001; MONA (NW American margin), 2002;PICASSO (Central and North-Atlantic) Chief Scientist, 2003; Marco Polo 1 (South China Sea) Chief Scientist,2005; Marco Polo 2 (Philippines area) Chief Scientist, 2006; PACHIDERME (S Chile), 2007; AMOCINT(N. Atlantic), 2008; MONOCIR (Indonesia), 2010; CIRCEA (South China Sea), 2012.

Organisation of Conferences and Workshops and co-editors of the corresponding volumes

• Paleomagnetic Rotations and Continental Deformations (NATO Advanced Research Workshop, Loutra Edipsos, Grèce, 1989, Co-organiser with C. Kissel; Edition of NATO-ASI Series book)
  
• Modes of Crustal Deformation (Erice International School, Italy, Co-organiser with R. Funiciello; special issue of Annali di Geofisica).
  
• Geomagnetic Polarity Reversals and long term Secular Variation (Discussion meeting of the Royal Soc. London, London, 1999, Co-organiser with D. Gubbins and D. Kent, co-editor of a special issue of Phil.Trans. Royal Soc. London, March 2000).
  
• La Terre, de sa formation à l'Homme (Organiser and Chairman of a special one-day session for 600 teacher participants at the Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie, Paris 1996, in the framework of the 50th anniversary of the CEA
  

Research Interests

In a general way, Paleomagnetism and environmental magnetism, applied to geodynamics, environmental magnetism, paleoceanography and paleoclimatology, as well as history of the geomagnetic field including geomagnetic reversals and excursions.

Honours

• Prize F. Holweck de l'Académie des Sciences (1988)
  
• Chevalier de l'Ordre National du Mérite (1994)
  
• Fellow of the l'American Geophysical Union (1996)
  
• Directeur de Recherches au CEA (1997)
  
• Union Service Award, European Geosciences Union (2004) for educational activities
  
• Excellence in Geophysical Education Award AGU (2011)
  
• Visitante Distinguido del Cusco
  
• Arthur Holmes Medal and Honorary Fellowship of the European Geosciences Union (2015)
  

Educational Activities

At EGU, Carlo Laj has created in 2002 the Committee on Education and has been its Chairman since, with an increasing international success. The Excellence in Geophysical Education Award given to him in 2011 by the American Geophysical Union, is a clear proof of this success (I am still the only European to have received this award).

He has organized GIFT (Geosciences Information for Teachers) workshops not only in connection with EGU General Asssembly, now in Vienna, but also outside Europe, associated with Alexander von Humboldt topical conferences, that have contributed to upgrading teachers’ formation in developing countries: the title of Visitante Distinguido del Cusco, given to him by the Mayor of this town in 2012 in recognition of the organization of a GIFT workshop held there and more recently the direct request by the Minister of Education of the State of Yucatan and by the President of the Mexican Academy of Sciences to organize a GIFT workshop in Merida are direct proofs of the importance of these EGU actions in these countries. The long-term collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA), NSF, CAS, AGU and other different scientific institutions also goes along the same way.
The GIFT workshops program has celebrated his 25th edition this year!