Geotimes December 1998 - People and Places

PEOPLE & PLACES

December 1998

People

JOHN DRAGONETTI, senior adviser for the American Geological Institute's (AGI) Government Affairs Program, received a Presidential Certificate of Merit from the American Institute of Professional Geologists (AIPG) on Oct. 8 during its annual meeting in Baton Rouge, La. Dragonetti has written a government affairs column for AIPG's monthly publication, The Professional Geologist, since February 1997. He has also served AIPG as a liaison in Washington, D.C., and received the association's I.C. White Award in 1996. From 1983 to 1995, Dragonetti was the U.S. Geological Survey's principal liaison with national, state, and local government organizations such as the National Governors' Association, Council of State Governments, and National Conference of State Legislatures. He joined AGI in 1995.

The American Geophysical Union (AGU) granted its 1998 Fred Whipple Award to JOHN ADAMS, professor emeritus of geological sciences at the University of Washington. The Whipple Award recognizes outstanding contributions to the field of planetary science. Adams is a primary founder of the field of remote sensing spectroscopy of planetary surfaces - one of his many contributions to a clearer understanding of the solar system's planets and moons. In honor of his contributions, AGU will hold a special session during its fall meeting (Dec. 6-10). Called "Spectroscopy of Solar System Objects: A Special Session Celebrating the Contributions of John Adams," it will focus on recent results of the remote sensing of Earth, the moon, Mars, asteroids, and outer satellites of the solar system that used techniques Adams pioneered.

ROBERT N. GINSBURG, professor of marine geology and geophysics at the University of Miami's Rosentiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, received the 12th Hollis D. Hedberg Award in Energy from the Institute for the Study of Earth and Man at Southern Methodist University (SMU) on Oct. 8 at SMU. Ginsburg was recognized for furthering scientific understanding of carbonate rocks. He worked with Shell Development Co. from 1954 to 1965. He joined The Johns Hopkins University in 1965 as professor of geology and oceanography, and also directed the Seminar on Organism-Sediment Interrelationships from 1966 to 1969. In 1970, he moved to the University of Miami. Ginsberg is past president of the Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists. The Hedberg Award, funded by Petróleos de Venezuela, recognizes individuals who have made exceptional contributions to understanding Earth and its resources.

The Association of Earth Science Editors held its annual meeting in September and elected officers for 1998-99. They are: President JOHN R. KEITH, U.S. Geological Survey; Vice-President MARLA D. ADKINS-HELJESON, Kansas Geological Survey; Secretary-Treasurer NANCY S. GILSON, New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources; Director (1997-99) FAITH E. ROGERS, Geological Society of America; Director (1998-00) O. EVELYN INGLIS, Natural Resources Canada; Director (1999-01) ELLEN M. WOLF, Illinois State Geological Survey; and Past President CAROL A. HJELLMING, New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources.

The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology held its annual meeting from Sept. 30 to Oct. 3, and elected new officers. They are: President JOHN FLYNN, Field Museum of Natural History; Vice-President RICHARD STUCKY, Denver Museum of Natural History; Secretary CATHERINE BADGLEY, University of Michigan; and Treasurer DALE WINKLER, Southern Methodist University.

In October, the Geoscience Information Society (GIS) awarded its 1998 Best Paper Awards to MELISSA LAMONT, data librarian at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, for her paper called "Managing Geospatial Data and Services," published in the Journal of Academic Librarianship; and to LISA WISHARD, earth and mineral sciences librarian at Pennsylvania State University, for her paper, "Where in the World? Finding Meteorological and Climatological Data," published in Geoscience Information Society Proceedings.
GIS selected The NASA Atlas of the Solar System for its Mary B. Ansari Best Reference Work Award. The reference work was written by RONALD GREELEY and RAYMOND BATSON and published in 1997 by Cambridge University Press.
The society also named new officers during its Oct. 25-29 annual meeting in Toronto. They are: President CHARLOTTE DERKSEN, Branner Earth Science Library, Stanford University; Vice-President/President-Elect LOIS HEISER, Geology Library at Indiana University-Bloomington; Immediate Past President CONNIE MANSON, Washington Division of Geology and Earth Resources; Secretary SHAUN HARDY, Department of Terrestrial Magnetism and Geophysical Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution of Washington; and Treasurer SUSAN GOODMAN, Library of Science and Medicine, Rutgers University.

The 1999 Secretary of the Navy/Chief of Naval Operations Oceanographic Research Chairs are: scientist ROBERT WELLER, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and ARTHUR BAGGEROER, professor in the Departments of Ocean Engineering and Electrical Engineering/Computer Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Also, NICHOLAS MAKRIS, professor in MIT's Department of Ocean Engineering, and STEVEN ANDERSON, Woods Hole, are the 1998 Office of Naval Research (ONR)/Institution Scholars. Oceanographic Research Chairs and ONR/ Institution Scholars develop scientific collaborations with other Navy and Marine Corps activities, advise ONR on policy and procedures for support of oceanography science and technology, participate in ONR department reviews, and identify science and technology opportunities in oceanographic sciences.

The new manager of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Solar System Exploration Program Office and Space and Earth Sciences Program Directorate, housed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), is DOUGLAS STETSON. Stetson joined JPL in 1983. He spent 10 years in the Mission Design section, serving as the lead mission design engineer for the Cassini mission early in the project's history, and led many advanced studies in planetary concepts. He worked at NASA headquarters from 1992 to 1993 in the Solar System Exploration Division.

Britain's chief scientific adviser, SIR ROBERT MAY, head of the U.K. Office of Science and Technology, along with HARMON CRAIG, professor of geochemistry and oceanography at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, are this year's winners of the International Balzan Foundation's annual Balzan Prizes, which recognize leaders in scientific, cultural, literary, and humanitarian fields. The Balzan Foundation, based in Italy, awards three annual prizes of 500,000 Swiss franks (US $360,000) each.

The National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum awarded its 1998 Prazen Award to WOMEN IN MINING, a national organization founded in 1972 to educate the general public about the mining industry. The Prazen Award is an annual award and recognizes the efforts of organizations such as Women in Mining to promote public awareness of the importance of mining.

Places

On Sept. 30, the National Science Foundation honored solar researcher Richard Dunn by renaming the Vacuum Tower Telescope (VTT) of the NATIONAL SOLAR OBSERVATORY at Sacramento Peak in New Mexico. The solar telescope is now the Richard B. Dunn Solar Telescope. Using a process Dunn developed, the telescope evacuates air to reduce image deterioration. The design revolutionized the capabilities of solar telescopes and has been incorporated into every major solar telescope since the VTT was put into operation in 1969. Dunn retired from the National Solar Observatory on Aug. 31.

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