Megan S. Ballard of the Applied Research Laboratories, University of Texas at Austin, has been named recipient of the R. Bruce Lindsay Award of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA) for contributions to underwater acoustic propagation modeling and inversion techniques in acoustical oceanography. The award will be presented at the 171st meeting of ASA on 25 May 2016 in Salt Lake City, Utah. The R. Bruce Lindsay Award is presented to a member of the ASA who is under 35 years of age, has been active in the affairs of the ASA and contributed substantially, through published papers, to the advancement of theoretical or applied acoustics.
"I am truly honored to be recognized by the Acoustical Society of America, and I am humbled to be associated with previous winners of the R. Bruce Lindsay Award. I am grateful for the many opportunities I have had to work alongside outstanding researchers in underwater acoustics, whose guidance and support have made this award possible for me," said Ballard.
Megan Ballard earned a Ph.D. in Acoustics from Pennsylvania State University. She served as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Applied Research Laboratories, University of Texas at Austin, Texas (2010-11) where she continues as a Research Associate (2012-). Megan studies the propagation of sound in the sea. She uses mathematical models to calculate the sound field in complex underwater environments and is also interested in applications of underwater sound to estimate physical properties of seawater and sediments on the ocean floor.
Megan served as President of the Florida Atlantic University Student Chapter of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (2004-05) and Secretary of the ASA Central Pennsylvania Chapter (2006). She is the Chair of the ASA Technical Committee on Underwater Acoustics (2015-) and is an Associate Editor of ASA's Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics (2014-).
Megan received numerous fellowships and awards including the Best Presenter Award of the Maritime Rapid Environmental Assessment Conference, NATO Undersea Research Centre (2010), Postdoctoral Fellowship Award, Special Research Awards in Ocean Acoustics Program, Office of Naval Research (2010-11), the Simowitz Citation, Acoustics Program at Pennsylvania State University (2009), ASA Young Presenter Awards (2007, 2008), National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship (2006-09), National Defense Industrial Association Undersea Systems Division Fellowship Award (2006). Scholarships awarded to Megan while at Florida Atlantic University include the Kenneth R. Williams Leadership Award (2005), Charles Stephan Award (2005), Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers Scholarship (2004), University STEP Scholarship, National Science Foundation (2002-04), and the Florida Bright Future Scholarship (2000-05).
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The Acoustical Society of America (ASA) is the premier international scientific society in acoustics devoted to the science and technology of sound. Its 7000 members worldwide represent a broad spectrum of the study of acoustics. ASA publications include the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America--the world's leading journal on acoustics, Acoustics Today magazine, books, and standards on acoustics. The Society also holds two major scientific meetings each year. For more information about the Society visit our website, http://www.acousticalsociety.org.