Geophysicist Leigh Royden looks at Earth from the top down

The MIT combines geophysics and geology to understand what's happening beneath the crust. The German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina has counted some of the greatest scientists in history among its ranks. Founded in 1652, and named in honor of the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I, the scientific organization has included among its members Marie Curie, Albert Einstein, Alexander von Humboldt, and Charles Darwin, to name a few. But when Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Science (EAPS) professor Leigh "Wiki" Royden was elected to the Leopoldina , she was less impressed by its most well-known laureates than by the academy's rich history in Earth science. "That's really the home of traditional geology; alpine geology all developed there," she says. "And most of the people in the academy come out of this long leading tradition in the Earth sciences. That's just super cool." Royden, the Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Geology and Geophysics , combines geology and geophysics to study the Earth's crust, how it changes when tectonic plates collide, and how that activity is connected to processes deep in the mantle.