Lonnie G. Thompson

2016 Margaret Douglas Medal

For his perseverance in leading courageous expeditions to drill and analyze ice cores from the highest mountain glaciers and ice caps in tropical and subtropical regions, transforming scientific knowledge of Earth’s changing climate.

Proposed by: Kanawha Garden Club, Zone VII

Lonnie and Ellen lead the Ice Core Paleoclimate Research Group where Ellen is currently the Director and Lonnie, Senior Research Scientist. Ellen is a Distinguished University Professor in OSU’s Atmospheric Science Program. She received her Master’s and Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science at Ohio State. Lonnie is a Distinguished University Professor in OSU’s School of Earth Sciences. He received his Master’s and Ph.D. in Geological Sciences from Ohio State. The Thompsons are members of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American Geophysical Union. They have each received the Common Wealth Award for Science and Invention, the Dan David Prize and the Benjamin Franklin Medal. Lonnie has received the National Medal of Science, the country’s highest award given for scientific accomplishment.

The Margaret Douglas Medal is awarded for notable service to the cause of conservation education.

The Margaret Douglas Medal was endowed by Priscilla Sleeper Sterling (Mrs. Robert D. Sterling), Garden Club of Dublin and Monadnock Garden Club, both Zone I, to honor Margaret Bell Douglas (Mrs. Walter Douglas: 1890–1963), GCA member-at-large. The medal was designed by Art Deco sculptor Rene Paul Chambellan in 1952. A native of Canada, Margaret spent much of her adult life in the American Southwest and Mexico. She is credited with the introduction of the papaya crop to Mexico and she helped establish the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, AZ. She was the recipient of the GCA’s Achievement Medal in 1954.

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