Lancaster Professor Farideh Honary has been awarded the 2022 Royal Astronomical Society Award for service to Geophysics at the annual RAS meeting in London.

Professor Honary has played a leading role in establishing the field of radio science within space plasma physics in the UK, and in representing the community internationally.

She said: “I can only say that I was pleasantly surprised to hear the news about the award as I had no idea that I was nominated. It is a great feeling to have this recognition and award from the Royal Astronomical Society.”

In 1996, Professor Honary established what is now the Space and Planetary Physics Group at Lancaster University and later founded and led the consortium for the Global Riometer Array (GLORIA), an international collaborative program with over 13 countries.

As part of her highly active research work, she has been principal investigator of 40 projects, and a representative on numerous international consortia including URSI: International Union of Radio science, and SUPERMAG.

Her extensive services to the community extend far beyond teaching and building international research collaborations and consortia. From 2011-2013 she served as Vice President of the RAS, as well as Chair of the RAS’ prizes and awards panel.

Dr Robert Massey, Deputy Executive Director of the Royal Astronomical Society, said: “She has been an outstanding mentor to her colleagues, including 14 PhD students, and has dedicated a significant amount of her time annually for 25 years to numerous advisory groups and review panels including IOP, UKSA, ESA, NASA, Norwegian research council, UKRI, and its predecessors.

“Professor Honary has made a substantial contribution towards achieving inclusive working environments through her membership of the IOP Juno panel and related activities, and promotes these principles in all her teaching, research, and service roles.”