Geotimes September 1997

ABOUT PEOPLE

September 1997

About People

Professor JANE PLANT, assistant director of the British Geological Survey (BGS), has been awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in recognition of her contributions to science. She is in charge of the Minerals, Environment and Geochemical Surveys Division of BGS.

The Association of Engineering Geologists has appointed NORMAN R. TILFORD the new executive director of the association. Tilford is a consulting engineering geologist and professor of geology at Texas A&M University.

Several awards were presented at the annual meeting of the Clay Minerals Society, held in June in Ontario, Canada. VICTOR A. DRITS, Russian Academy of Sciences, and HERVE CHAMLEY, University of Lille, France, received the AIPEA Gold Medal. UDO SCHWERTMANN, Munich Technical University, Germany, was named Distinguished Member. PAUL H. NADEAU of Norway's Statoil presented the George W. Brindley Lecture, and Professor Emeritus KOJI WADA, Kyushu University, Japan, presented the Pioneer in Clay Science Lecture. JERRY M. BIGHAM, Ohio State University, received the Marion L. and Chrystie M. Jackson Mid-Career Clay Scientist Award.

The current president of the Clay Minerals Society is JOSEPH W. STUCKI, University of Illinois. DAVID L. BISH, Los Alamos National Laboratory, is vice president. Other new officers are: STEPHEN J. GUGGENHEIM, University of Illinois-Chicago, immediate past president; PATRICIA M. COSTANZO, SUNY at Buffalo, vice president elect; RICHARD W. LAHANN, Conoco, Inc., secretary; DAVID R. PEVEAR, Exxon Production Research Co., treasurer; and WAYNE H. HUDNALL, Louisiana State University, editor-in-chief.

The National Earth Science Teachers Association named WILENE RIGSBY Fellow of the Association and KELLY RIGSBY Honorary Member at its April meeting in New Orleans.

The 1997-1998 officers of the Seismological Society of America (SSA) are: RALPH J. ARCHULETA, University of California, Santa Barbara, president; VERNON F. CORMIER, University of Connecticut, vice president; FRED E. FOLLOWILL, treasurer; and JOE J. LITEHISER, Bechtel Corporation, secretary. MICHAEL FEHLER, Los Alamos National Laboratory, is the BSSA editor, and JOHN E. EBEL, Weston Observatory, is SRL editor.
The following scientists currently serve as directors of the SSA: CHARLES J. AMMON, St. Louis University; GAIL M. ATKINSON, Carleton College (Canada); KENNETH W. CAMPBELL, EQE Engineering; KEVIN J. COPPERSMITH, Geomatrix Consultants; RUTH A. HARRIS, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS); STEPHEN D. MALONE, University of Washington; BARBARA A. ROMANOWICZ, University of California, Berkeley; DAVID P. SCHWARTZ, USGS; PAUL SPUDICH, USGS; GERARDO SUAREZ, UNAM, Mexico; and TERRY C. WALLACE, JR., University of Arizona.

BRIAN K. AYERS, a senior geologist for The Coastal Corporation, has been elected as vice president for domestic exploration of Coastal Oil & Gas Corporation.

The Mississippi Geological Society has elected GEORGE B. VOCKROTH as its president for 1997-1998. Vockroth is a member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, the Society of Independent Professional Earth Scientists, the American Institute of Professional Geologists, and the Society of Exploration Geophysicists.

Obituaries

CHARLES L. DRAKE
Charles L. Drake, an authority on marine geology, geophysics, and tectonics who was professor emeritus of earth sciences at Dartmouth College, died July 8 in Norwich, Vt.
Drake was known for his work on structural stresses in Earth and the formation of surface features. His early research included geophysical investigations of the Atlantic Coastal Plain. His pioneering seismic refraction measurements off the eastern coast of the United States shed new light on the formation of continental margins.
Drake was also interested in the interplay between humans and the environment. His research at Lake Powell in Utah focused on the ecological effects of damming the Colorado River.
In recent years, Drake played a major role in the debate over the cause of the extinction of the dinosaurs and much of life 65 million years ago. He rejected the theory that tied this global catastrophe to the impact of a large meteorite, arguing instead that huge volcanic eruptions and the resulting atmospheric changes had been responsible for the end of the dinosaurs.
A fellow and former president of the Geological Society of America and the American Geophysical Union, Drake served as a member of President George Bush's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology from 1990-92. As a spokesman for science, he warned of the dangers inherent in the public's aversion to funding projects with uncertain outcomes. "I worry about 'safe' science," he said in a 1990 interview. "If we lose our capacity to be wrong, we are not doing the business of science."
A native of Ridgewood, N.J., Drake received his bachelor's degree from Princeton University in 1948 after serving in the Pacific during World War II. In 1958 he earned his doctorate in geology from Columbia University, where he taught and served as department chair.
Drake joined Dartmouth College as a professor of geology in 1969 and served as chair of the Department of Earth Sciences, dean of graduate studies, and associate dean of the faculty for the sciences.
As an educator, Drake encouraged the pursuit of different and new scientific ideas; his experience and skills in marine oceanography and geoscience policy were an inspiration to his students and colleagues. He retired in 1994.
Drake served on or chaired committees of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Research Council. He was a member of the National Advisory Committee on Oceans and Atmosphere, a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, president of the 18th International Geological Congress, and an honorary member of the Geological Society of France.