Diane E. Pataki is a Foundation Professor and Director of the School of Sustainability at Arizona State University. She is an elected Fellow of the American Geophysical Union, the Ecological Society of America, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 2008 she was a recipient of the James B. Macelwane Medal from the American Geophysical Union for her research on coupled water and carbon cycles. The award is given for “significant contributions to the geophysical sciences by an outstanding early career scientist.” Source: Wikipedia (en)