Dr. Cochran is a post-doctoral researcher at UCSD's Cecil H. and Ida M. Green Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics. She holds a B.S. degree in geological sciences (with honors) from the University of California-Santa Barbara and completed her Ph.D. in Geophysics and Space Physics at the University of California-Los Angeles.
In partnership with Subaru of America, Inc., GSA confers the Outstanding Woman in Science Award to women who have made a significant impact on the geosciences with their Ph.D. research. The Award is given in memory of Doris M. Curtis, GSA's 103rd and first female President, and includes a cash prize.
Dr. Cochran's Ph.D. research addressed the triggering of earthquakes by Earth tides, microcracks in Earth's crust observed near active fault zones, and post-seismic displacements near the surface rupture of the 1999 Hector Mine earthquake.
"Elizabeth is blazing a trail with seismology and Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) to explore a variety of intriguing and unexplained facets of earthquakes, as well as the fault planes and beaten-up rocks they leave in their wake," said John Vidale, UCLA Professor of Earth and Space Sciences, who nominated Cochran for the award.
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