Pick & Gavel Awards to Murkowski and Holt

The Association of American State Geologists tonight presented the "Pick & Gavel" award to Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Rep. Rush Holt of New Jersey, for their contributions to advancing the role that geoscience plays in our society.

The Pick and Gavel Dinner was held in Washington D.C. at the Cosmos Club, whose history is steeped in geology. One of its founders and first presidents was John Wesley Powell, 1881 -1894 USGS Director and explorer of the Grand Canyon, and its membership has included many renowned geologists.

The Award consists of a mounted mineral, fossil, or rock, with a symbol that includes a geologist's pick, a policy-maker's gavel, and the Capitol, where geologists and policy-makers work together to respond to the needs of the nation.

A full list of Pick & Gavel recipients is posted at the AASG website.