The QRA sponsors several prizes in recognition of excellence in the field of Quaternary research. The James Croll medal is awarded to a member of the QRA who has not only made an outstanding contribution to the field of Quaternary science, but whose work has also had a significant international impact.

This is the highest award of the QRA and is named in honour of James Croll (1821-1890). Croll is most closely associated with fundamental work on the astronomical theory of the ice ages, but he also made seminal contributions on the glacial geology of Scotland, on the mechanisms that drive ocean circulation and the impact of that circulation on recent climate, on tidal theory and the rotation of the Earth.

These are all major issues that occupy Quaternary scientists to this day. Croll was effectively self-taught. His work and example demonstrate that any individuals from all backgrounds can rise to national eminence and generate science of lasting and major international impact, that it is not who you are or where you come from but what you do that is important. These are the qualities that the QRA seeks to celebrate in the award of the James Croll Medal.

In August 2015, Alayne also received a International Paleolimnological Association (IPA) Lifetime Achievement Medal at a ceremony in Lanzhou, China.

And a forthcoming special issue of the Journal of Quaternary Science is being produced in Alayne’s honour.

Speaking about her awards Alayne said: “I have been overwhelmed with the generous awards which I have received over the last eighteen months. It really is an honour to be rewarded for doing the work I love. I had no idea that my former students, postdocs and current colleagues had been plotting in deepest secrecy for a year to produce a forthcoming special issue of the Journal of Quaternary Science in my honour. The announcement after the James Croll Medal presentation took me completely by surprise. I nearly disgraced myself by shedding a few tears in public !”

For more information about Professor Alayne Sreet-Perrott go to http://www.swansea.ac.uk/staff/science/geography/f.a.street-perrott/

The Quaternary Research Association is an organisation comprising archaeologists, botanists, civil engineers, geographers, geologists, soil scientists, zoologists and others interested in research into the problems of the Quaternary. The QRA was founded in 1964 as the Quaternary Field Study Group and its name was changed to the Quaternary Research Association in 1968. Today the QRA has an international membership of over 1000, with a large and thriving postgraduate student membership. For more information go to https://www.qra.org.uk/

For more information about the Swansea University Department of Geography go to http://www.swansea.ac.uk/geography