2026 Wallace S. Broecker Medal

Dr. Deborah S. Kelley

For impactful contributions to marine geoscience, deep-sea vent research, and education, through connecting systems, people, and ideas

Deborah S. Kelley, Professor in the School of Oceanography at the University of Washington, has been awarded the Wallace S. Broecker Medal by The Oceanography Society. This honor recognizes her innovative and impactful contributions to marine geoscience and chemical oceanography, her leadership in interdisciplinary and collaborative research, and her sustained commitment to education and mentorship.

Dr. Kelley will receive this honor at The Oceanography Society Honors Breakfast, February 24, 2026, during the Ocean Sciences Meeting in Glasgow, Scotland, and will also present a plenary lecture during the society awards session on February 25 at the same conference.

The Broecker Medal honors innovative and impactful contributions to the advancement or application of marine geoscience, chemical oceanography, or paleoceanography. This medal also seeks to recognize individuals who have made significant contributions toward educating and mentoring students and early-career ocean professionals or who have conducted significant interdisciplinary research and/or collaborative work toward meaningful societal impact.

Dr. Kelley is best known for co-leading the 2000 submersible expedition that discovered the Lost City Hydrothermal Field on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge—an entirely new type of hydrothermal system driven by serpentinization of mantle rocks rather than magmatic heat. Featuring massive carbonate chimneys, rising 60 m above the surrounding seafloor, venting highly alkaline fluids rich in hydrogen and methane, Lost City fundamentally altered scientific understanding of fluid–rock interactions, chemosynthetic ecosystems, and the links between geology, chemistry, biology, and the potential origins of life on Earth and beyond.

“Dr. Kelley made one of the most important contributions to marine science in decades with the discovery and documentation of the Lost City Hydrothermal Vent Field,” said Jeffrey A. Karson, Professor Emeritus of Earth & Environmental Sciences at Syracuse University. “Her comprehensive, collaborative work on this previously unknown type of system has inspired new ideas about life-sustaining environments and the emergence of life on Earth and beyond.”

Beyond discovery, Dr. Kelley has helped to transform how the ocean is observed. As director of the cabled component of the NSF’s Ocean Observatories Initiative Regional Cabled Array, she played a leadership role in the design, installation, and long-term operation of nearly 900 kilometers of high-power fiber-optic cables and more than 150 seafloor and water-column instruments. This real-time observatory, operational since 2014, delivers continuous data and high-definition video from active submarine volcanoes, hydrothermal systems, earthquake zones, and methane seeps, shifting ocean science from episodic expeditions to sustained, open-access monitoring with global scientific and societal value.

A defining element of Dr. Kelley’s legacy is her dedication to education and mentorship. Through programs such as VISIONS at Sea, she has taken more than 200 students to sea, integrated cutting-edge research into education, and mentored generations of early-career scientists. Her inclusive, interdisciplinary approach has helped shape leaders across marine geoscience, chemical oceanography, and related fields.

“Perhaps her greatest and longest-lasting contributions will be through her mentoring,” said Richard “Rick” Murray, Senior Scientist (emeritus) at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. “She is an international resource who changes people’s lives through those experiences.”

Through groundbreaking discovery, visionary infrastructure development, interdisciplinary collaboration, and deep investment in people, Dr. Kelley has advanced the core aims of the Wallace S. Broecker Medal—connecting Earth systems science with education, collaboration, and meaningful societal impact.