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CORVALLIS - Two Oregon State University educators in the College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences have earned rare honors from the American Geophysical Union.

John Allen, professor, and Nicklas Pisias, professor and associate dean, were recognized as AGU Fellows for outstanding contributions to the advancement of the geophysical sciences, service to the community and advancement of public understanding.

Only one other college faculty member, Brent Dalrymple, dean of the college, has ever earned AGU Fellow honors.

Allen was honored for fundamental theoretical and observational work on currents in the coastal ocean, while Pisias was recognized for his pioneering work on the application of time-series analysis to paleoceanographic and paleoclimatic problems.

Allen obtained his doctorate in engineering from Princeton University in 1968 and joined OSU in 1973. His research focuses on coastal physical oceanography, such as the fluid dynamical behavior of ocean currents over the continental shelf and slope. His work has made contributions to the understanding of coastal circulation processes through theoretical and numerical modeling studies and through the analysis and dynamical interpretation of oceanographic field measurements.

Pisias received his doctorate from the University of Rhode Island in 1978. His work analyzes the geologic history of ocean circulation (time scales of decades to thousands of years) and how changes in ocean processes are related to global climate change. Research has focused on the circulation along the eastern boundary of the Pacific including the California Current system off of Oregon and California as well as in the eastern equatorial Pacific.

Pisias' research demonstrates how changes in the distribution of solar radiation, which changes on geologic time scales, influence the circulation of these regions as well as how processes at high latitudes can have profound impact on tropical circulation.

The American Geophysical Union is an international society of 35,000 members from 115 nations.