Richard A. Kerr, also known as Dick Kerr,
is a science journalist and former staff writer for ''
Science.''
Kerr received his BA in
chemistry
Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...
from the
College of Wooster in 1968.
After working for a year as a research chemist in the Ocean Sciences Division of the
Naval Research Laboratory
The United States Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is the corporate research laboratory for the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps. It was founded in 1923 and conducts basic scientific research, applied research, technological ...
in
Washington, DC, he spent three years as an officer on the
fleet oiler USS ''Ponchatoula'' during the
Vietnam War.
After leaving the
Navy, Kerr earned his PhD in oceanography from the
University of Rhode Island, where he also "surreptitiously" took classes in magazine writing and news reporting.
In 1977, a week after defending his dissertation, he accepted a job as a
geophysics writer for ''Science'';
he was soon promoted to senior writer, and began covering
Earth and
planetary science
Planetary science (or more rarely, planetology) is the scientific study of planets (including Earth), celestial bodies (such as moons, asteroids, comets) and planetary systems (in particular those of the Solar System) and the processes of their f ...
s.
Kerr was elected as a Fellow of the
Geological Society of America in 1995.
Honors and awards
* 1990
American Meteorological Society Special Award "for the consistently high quality of his articles in ''Science'' on developments and issues in the atmospheric sciences."
* 1993 Robert G. Cowen Award for Sustained Achievement in Science Journalism from the
American Geophysical Union
* 1994
National Association of Geoscience Teachers James Shea Award
* 1995 Outstanding Contribution to Public Understanding of Geology Award from the
American Geological Institute
* 2006 Geological Society of America Public Service Award
* 2013
Jonathan Eberhart Planetary Sciences Journalism Award for his article "Peering Inside the Moon to Read Its Earliest History."
References
External links
Richard Kerr on Twitter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kerr, Richard
American science journalists
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)