PEOPLE & PLACES
October 1999

People
News from AGI member societies
Places
Obituary

People

The 1999 recipient of the American Institute of Professional Geologists (AIPG) Outstanding Achievement Award is Julia A. Jackson, rewarded for organizing the first annual Earth Science Week in 1998.

Julia A. Jackson, courtesy AGI		  Jackson initiated Earth Science Week as part of a multifaceted public outreach program at the American Geological Institute (AGI) in 1997 that now includes an annual Earth Science Week, the Earth Science Week Web site <http://www.earthsciweek.org/>, and AGI’s Environmental Awareness Series of publications. Jackson is the author of general interest articles and books on gemstones and industrial minerals as well as the editor of the 4th edition of the Glossary of Geology (AGI, 1997). She worked from 1992 to 1995 as director of communications and publications for AGI and editor of Geotimes, AGI’s monthly newsmagazine. From 1995 to 1998, she was president of the Association of Earth Science Editors and wrote the column “It’s about Time” for the association’s Newsletter Blueline. The AIPG Outstanding Achievement Award honors a nonmember who is widely recognized as a major contributor to the profession of geology. Previous recipients include: Stephen Jay Gould (1989), Ron Redfern (1995) and John McPhee (1997).
 

After 21 years as state geologist and director of the Kentucky Geological Survey, Donald C. Haney announced his retirement in September. Haney began his position in 1978 and maintained an ambitious agenda while still taking on the responsibilities of president of the Association of American State Geologists (AASG) from 1989 to 1990 and president of the American Geological Institute (AGI) in 1993. 

Last year he oversaw the dedication of a new, 48,000-square-foot facility that will improve access to the Kentucky Survey’s well sample and core library, the nation’s fifth largest. AGI presented Haney with its 1992 Ian Campbell Medal. In 1993 he received the AGI and AASG Award of Achievement. The American Association of Professional Geologists honored him with its Arthur Cohee Public Service Award in 1995. This year the University of Kentucky’s Martin School of Public Policy and Administration awarded him the William E. Lyons Award for outstanding contributions in public policy.
Donald C. Haney, courtesy the Kentucky Geological Survey.

News from AGI member societies

Pamela Hallock Muller of the Department of Marine Sciences at the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg, will receive the Association for Women Geoscientists 1999 Outstanding Educator Award. A biogeological oceanographer, Muller studies foraminifera and the ecology of reefs. Muller will lecture on “Senior Women in Academia” at a special session sponsored by AWG on Oct. 24 during the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America (GSA) in Denver. She will receive her award at the GSA meeting during the AWG breakfast on Oct. 26.

The Council of the Mineralogical Society of America is again running its Distinguished Lecture Program for the 1999–2000 academic year. Michael Hochella of Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University will speak on mineral-environment interfacial processes: “How the solid earth talks to the hydrosphere, atmosphere and biosphere.” He will also discuss nuclear and mining wastes: “A scientific and societal look at lessons we have (and haven’t) learned.” Hochella will tour universities around the United States during the spring semester. Tracy Rushmer of the University of Vermont will lecture on cracks, fractures and flow: “Magmatic journeys through the Earth’s crust.” She will also talk about the Earth’s core: “The great unexplored inner space.” Rushmer’s tour schedule begins this month. Contact Guy L. Hovis of the Department of Geology at Lafayette College at <hovisguy@mail.lafayette.edu> for the lecturers’ schedules.

The Society for Organic Petrology elected new officers in September for the year 2000. They are: President Cole R. Robison, Texaco Inc.; Vice President David C. Glick, The Pennsylvania State University; President-Elect Prasanta K. Mukhopadhyay, Global GeoEnergy Research; Secretary/Treasurer Peter D. Warwick, U.S. Geological Survey; Councilors Jeff C. Quick, Utah Geological Survey and Carolyn Thompson-Rizer, Conoco Inc.; Editors John C. Crelling, Southern Illinois University and William W. Huggett, Southern Illinois University.

The new chairperson of the Paleobotanical Section of the Botanical Society of America is James Basinger of the University of Saskatchewan in Canada.

Places

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) designated 18,400 acres in southeast Jackson County, Miss., as the Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. Made up of tidal marsh, shallow-water open bay, wet pine savanna, and coastal swamp habitats, Grand Bay is the 24th site in NOAA’s nationwide network of research reserves dedicated to the study and preservation of estuarine environments and is the first of these sites in Mississippi. Grand Bay supports productive oyster reefs and seagrass habitats.

Obituary

The July 31 crash landing of the Lunar Prospector brought to rest the ashes of one legendary for his contributions to planetary geology. Eugene M. Shoemaker pioneered the field of astrogeology within the U.S. Geological Survey. His dream of conducting field geology on the moon’s surface was stymied by health problems but he helped train the Apollo astronauts, provided the geologic commentary for the evening news during the moon walks and helped lead NASA studies on the moon’s history and structure. His discovery of Comet Shoemaker-Levy, with his wife Carolyn and colleague David Levy, lead to new insights when fragments of the comet, broken up by tidal forces from Jupiter, collided with the jovian planet in 1994. Shoemaker, who died in a 1997 car accident at the age of 69, became the first person to receive a lunar burial. Shoemaker’s ashes were placed aboard the Lunar Prospector in a polycarbonate capsule wrapped with foil and inscribed with lines from Romeo and Juliet and images of Comet Hale-Bopp and Meteor Crater, Ariz.

Shoemaker at his USGS retirement party, 1993. Courtesy USGS.

And when he shall die
Take him and cut him out in little stars,
And he will make the face of heaven so fine
That all the world will be in love with night,
And pay no worship to the garish sun.

— William Shakespeare, from
Romeo and Juliet, 1595
 

The People & Places section was compiled by Christina Reed, Geotimes Associate Editor.


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