UNLV scientist humbled by national awards

Friday, Sept. 17, 2004 | 8:42 a.m.

One of UNLV's youngest professors earned one of the U.S. government's top honors last week for her work studying the seismic structure of the Las Vegas Valley.

Catherine Snelson, 36, an assistant professor of geosciences at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, received the 2003 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers at a White House reception Sept. 9. She also received a similar award from the Energy Department.

Snelson's colleagues at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, which contracted with UNLV to assess how renewed testing at the Nevada Test Site might affect ground motion in the Las Vegas Valley, nominated her for both awards.

The honor comes with up to $50,000 in annual grant money for the next five years to continue her research, Snelson said.

"I'm shocked," Snelson said of the award. "I did not expect this at all. I don't feel like I've done anything extraordinary here. I am doing what I enjoy doing."

Michael Anastasio, Snelson's Livermore director, noted that Snelson's collaboration has helped the Energy Department's National Nuclear Security Administration assess and maintain the long-term readiness of the Nevada Test Site.

"Catherine has demonstrated extraordinary commitment and technical achievement in support of the defense program mission," Anastasio said.

Snelson has also studied how seismic events in and around Las Vegas might affect the valley, and as a member of the Nevada Earthquake Safety Council, she has worked to help better educate the public and government officials about earthquake preparedness.

Snelson, who said she felt humbled by the award, competed against scientists working to cure cancer.

She came to UNLV in 2002 straight out of graduate school at the University of Texas-El Paso, where she had earned a doctorate in geophysics.

Snelson's prior research with Livermore brought in about $100,000 a year to UNLV for the past two years, bringing critically needed money to the university, officials said. The continued research money will help her focus on research and relieve the stress of searching for grant money, Snelson said.

"In just a few short years, Catherine Snelson has established herself as a leading scholar in the field of geophysics," UNLV President Carol Harter said. "Her work demonstrates how important research is to the community this university serves."