Leigh Fletcher of the Earth and Planetary Atmospheres Group has been awarded the Keith Runcorn Prize for 2008 by the Royal Astronomical Society in London.

Fletcher’s winning entry, “Saturn’s Atmosphere: Structure and Composition from Cassini/Composite Infrared Mapping Spectrometer,” was honored for the best doctoral thesis in exploration geophysics; physics of Earth’s atmosphere, ionosphere or magnetosphere; planetary physics; solar physics; or solid-Earth geophysics.

Fletcher’s prize of 1,000 pounds (about $1,780) was administered by the society’s Higher Education Committee.