Citation by Samantha “Sam” Krause
The Geological Society of America presents its 2025 Geoarchaeology Division Rip Rapp Award to Dr. Sheryl Luzzadder-Beach for her ongoing contributions to the interdisciplinary field of Geoarchaeology. Dr. Luzzadder-Beach is a Professor of Geography and the Environment at UT Austin, where she holds the Raymond Dickson Endowed Centennial Professor #1. She is one of the top scholars in the field of hydrological geoarchaeology, having authored and co-authored over 100 peer reviewed publications, edited volumes, and book chapters, as well as multiple editorials and encyclopedia entries. To quote one of my co-nominators: “To be frank, Sheryl is a force to be reckoned with in geoarchaeological scholarship and mentorship.” Indeed, she has revolutionized our shared discipline of geoarchaeology in many ways.
Sheryl’s field research spans many places, she has led and co-led, and continues to lead projects in the USA, as well as Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Iceland, Romania, Italy, and Türkiye, and more. Many geoarchaeologists take a landscape approach to research, but what makes Sheryl stand out in the field is her unique and extremely valuable methodological approach. In her 30+ years of geoarchaeological research, she has focused on reconstructing past people’s relationship with water; using groundwater quantity and quality, regional structural geology, and statistical methods to solve geoarchaeological problems. Hydrology is a key part of geoarchaeology that is often understudied, but is gaining traction due to Sheryl’s early and ongoing contributions.
Sheryl is more than a quantitative scientist; she is a mentor as well, working with scores of early career scholars, postdocs, and students. In fact, I do not know many scholars of her caliber that dedicate themselves so wholly to service as well as science. I have often observed Sheryl burn the midnight oil to write a support letter or provide critical feedback for so many people in her extended lab group: from postdoctoral scholars working on large grants, to undergraduates looking forward to their first field experience. These are the ripples that Sheryl continues to make as a scientist, mentor, and leader. Please join us in congratulating Dr. Sheryl Luzzadder-Beach for this prestigious award!
Response by Sheryl Luzzadder-Beach
I humbly accept the 2025 GSA Rip Rapp Award in Archaeological Geology. I thank the Geoarchaeology Division of the Geological Society of America for selecting me for this honor. It is such a pleasure to call this Division ‘home’! As a University of Minnesota alumna, I salute this award’s inspiring namesake, Dr. Rip Rapp, who was deeply admired as a leader in in the University of Minnesota geoscience and geoarchaeology communities, and a pioneer of Archaeological Geology and our division.
Heartfelt thanks go to my Nominators and collaborators, Drs. Samantha Krause (Citationist), Nicholas Dunning, Greta Wells, Sally Horn, and David Lentz. I especially thank Dr. Timothy Beach, my spouse and lifelong partner in exploring past environments and past societies, and our family. You are all an inspiration!
My faculty mentors deserve gratitude. My California State University-Chico advisors enabled me to combine a passion for hydrology and the environment in my Geography major, with my love for ancient history, crafting minors in Comparative Classical Civilizations and Art History. After Chico, I was attracted to the University of Minnesota's Historical Geography tradition and discovered there an equally deep pool of water resources, climate, and soils experts, so I focused my graduate research on Hydrology, Geology, and Statistics. I thank my late Advisor Dwight Brown, who noted that all Physical Geography is Historical Geography; of course, Geologists know this perspective well. There I worked with my Golden Gopher classmates Tim Beach and Nick Dunning, where our geoarchaeological synergy sprouted and continues today.
After graduation Tim, Nick, and I explored ancient Maya landscapes together and with other projects. Geoarchaeology provides the essential interdisciplinary took kit to study ancient hydrologic structures, including water wells, canals, and wetland agricultural fields, to understanding the quality, origin, and limits of their water resources, and their extent, chronology, and function. Our team pioneered using LiDAR as the ideal remote sensing platform to detect and map these features hidden under jungle canopies. Geoarchaeology enabled us to field verify these features, to better understand Ancient Maya agricultural production and its impacts in an Early Anthropocene context. I thank our Archaeology Project Directors for their vision and amused patience to allow our geoarchaeology teams to explore and excavate “off mound” and especially thank the Community Leaders without whom our field research is not possible: Señor Pete Magaña and Señor Fidel Cruz and colleagues in San Felipe Belize, and the other communities of our international sites.
Thanks go to our research sponsors: NSF, NGS, UT’s CB Smith and RC Dickson Endowments and PT 2050 among others; and to UT “Stories of Ancient Resilience” Colleagues: Drs. Arlene Rosen and Fred Valdez (Anthropology), Dan Breecker (Geology), Melissa Kemp (Integrative Biology), Adam Rabinowitz (Classics), and Dave Stewart (Art History), among others. I thank friends and GSA mentors Rolf Mandel, Ester Stein, and Vance Holliday, who are real inspirations! I also salute our late, great colleague Dr. Karl Butzer, whose UT Geoarchaeology legacy Arlene, Tim, and I strive to continue.
Finally, I thank my students and alumni: your energy is infectious and indispensable, you spark joy with your quest for learning, your resilience and innovation, and especially your friendship: you give me optimism! On behalf of myself and the Beach/Butzer Labs, I humbly accept the 2025 GSA Rip Rapp Archaeological Geology Award. Thank you!