Carey Bridges will be Missouri State Geologist

On November 15th, 2022, Carey Bridges will be State Geologist of Missouri, as successor to Joe Gillman. She will direct the Missouri Geological Survey, part of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. She has been a Deputy Director for the department's Division of Environmental Quality since 2018. She was Chief of Wellhead Protection until 2012 when she became a Director in the Geological Survey. She was Chief of Brownfields/Voluntary Cleanup for over five years before joining the Survey in 2011. She joined the Department in 1999, as Project Manager in the Hazardous Waste Program, overseeing Superfund, Brownfields, and Voluntary Cleanup sites. She holds a bachelor’s degree in geology from the University of Central Missouri and a master’s degree in geology from the University of Missouri - Columbia. Welcome, Carey!

https://dnr.mo.gov/communications/news/missouri-department-natural-resources-names-new-state-geologist-director-geological-survey

https://dnr.mo.gov/node/1846

Mankin Award to West Virginia

The AASG Charles J. Mankin Award is given each year to the best recently-published, nominated state geological survey geological map, compilation, or report on regional, energy, or mineral resource geology.

The award honors Charles Mankin (1932-2012), who as Director of the Oklahoma Geological Survey for forty years (1967-2007) was a tireless advocate for geologic mapping.

The 2022 AASG Mankin Award has been presented to Susan Pool, Ray Boswell, John Saucer and B.J. Carney, for their publication:

West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey Report of Investigation 36: Estimates of Natural Gas Resources and Recovery Efficiency Associated with Marcellus Development in West Virginia.

Congratulations!

 

Meghan Seremet is Connecticut State Geologist

Meghan Seremet PG has been appointed Connecticut State Geologist. She holds a BS in Geology and Geophysics, a BS in Environmental Sciences, and an MS in Geological Sciences from University of Connecticut. For 15 years, she was a consultant in remediation and geotechnical projects across the US. She is an adjunct geology professor at the University of Connecticut Avery Point campus. She enjoys photography and exploring the outdoors with her family. Welcome, Meghan!

https://portal.ct.gov/deep/geology/connecticut-state-geologist

Margaret Thomas has completed her time as Connecticut State Geologist

Margaret A. Thomas has retired as Connecticut State Geologist, a position she held since 2006. She had been preceded by Ralph S. Lewis, who held the post from 1997 to 2003. Her geology degrees are an MS from University of Connecticut, and a BS from La Salle College. She has been active in several fields, including pyrrhotite in concrete, radon, radionuclides in water, soil chemistry, geological mapping, and hazards. Congratulations on a job well done, Margaret!

Matt Morgan is State Geologist of Colorado

On September 1^st, 2022, Matt Morgan commenced his role as State Geologist of Colorado. Matt received his bachelor’s degree in Geology from New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology in 1996. He received a Professional Degree in GIS and Remote Sensing from University of Denver in 1997, and a Master’s degree in geology from the Colorado School of Mines in 2006. He also studied advanced project management at the Stanford School of Business in 2015. He was with the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources from 1993 to 1995. He joined the Colorado Survey in 1996, and became Deputy Director in 2015. Welcome, Matt!

Karen Berry has completed her time as Colorado State Geologist

Karen A. Berry has retired from the role of Colorado State Geologist, a position she was appointed to in 2013, as CGS was being transferred from state government to Colorado School of Mines in Golden. She joined the Survey in 1999, and was engineering geologist, land use program manager, and deputy director prior to appointment as director. 

Before that, she was an exploration geologist for Petro Lewis in Texas, engineering geologist for CRS Sirrine in Arizona, geotechnical reclamation specialist for the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board, and County Geologist for Jefferson County. She obtained her degree in geological engineering from Colorado School of Mines in 1982.

Karen was AASG VP in 2016/17, President Elect in 17/18, President in 18/19, and Past President in 19/20. Best of luck for your next steps, Karen!

Eric Carson has been named Interim Wisconsin State Geologist

Eric C. Carson has been named Interim Wisconsin State Geologist. He has been a geologist with the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey since 2008. Previously, he was Lecturing Faculty at San Jacinto College in Houston for almost 5 years. 

He received his BS from West Virginia University and his MS and PhD from UW–Madison. His research focuses on the advance and retreat of the last great ice sheet across North America, processes associated with rivers and floods, and how rivers sculpt landscapes. Welcome to AASG, Eric!

A mineral is named after former State Geologist Priscilla Grew!

Priscillagrewite-(Y), ideally (Ca2Y)Zr2Al3O12, is a garnet discovered by Irina Galuskina and her colleagues in 2020, from an exposure of marble in Jordan. It is the eighth new garnet species discovered by Galuskina. 

It is named for Priscilla Grew, who has held several posts, including State Geologist of Minnesota from 1986 to 1993. As Priscilla P. Dudley, she was first to reveal oscillatory zoning in eclogitic garnet using scanning electron beam photography; hence the nickname “the garnet lady” that she shares with Galuskina. Grew’s mother introduced her to collecting minerals in 1947 when Grew was only seven and the family was on vacation in Colorado. 

Congratulations, Priscilla!

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00357529.2022.2074257

Joe Gillman to complete his time as State Geologist of Missouri

After 27 years in state government, and 14 years as State Geologist of Missouri, Joe Gillman will retire on October 1^st, 2022. The Missouri Survey has flourished under his leadership.

Joe was AASG President in 2015/2016, having joined Executive in 2011, and Annual Meeting Host in 2017; he currently is the Finance Committee chair for the National Association of State Boards of Geology.

Joe has been serving on the State Oil and Gas Council, Missouri Mining Commission, Missouri Board of Geologists Registration, Well Installation Board, and Industrial Minerals Advisory Council.

Best of luck for your move to Colorado, Joe!

Bob Milici, State Geologist of Virginia from 1979 to 1991

Robert C. Milici, State Geologist of Virginia from 1979 to 1991, passed away on August 18, 2022. Previously, Bob was with the Tennessee Survey for 19 years, and he finished his career with USGS in Denver and Reston for 21 years. He was born in New Haven, Connecticut in 1931, and attended university at Cornell and Tennessee. His research production was prodigious, for which he received several awards. He is very well remembered by us all.

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/robert-milici-obituary?id=36360708

Larry Woodfork, State Geologist of West Virginia from 1988 to 2002

Larry D. Woodfork, former West Virginia State Geologist, passed away on August 22, 2022, in Morgantown, at the age of 83.

Larry attended Indiana and WV Universities, joined the WV Survey in 1968, was appointed assistant state geologist in 1969, and was director and state geologist from 1988 until his retirement in 2002. Larry was AASG President in 1998-99, and he also served as President of AGI, and AIPG, as well as Chair of the 2007-2009 International Year of Planet Earth.

He received the AIPG Parker and Van Couvering Medals, the AGI Campbell Medal, and the AAPG Galey Medal. He will long be very well remembered by us all, for many reasons, including his role as the 'father of the Pick and Gavel'.

https://www.dominionpost.com/2022/08/27/larry-woodfork-2/

Early Career Award to Kansas Geological Survey Scientist

Sam Zipper of the Kansas Geological Survey has been awarded the 2022 Kohout Early Career Award from the Hydrogeology Division of GSA.

Sam has been working on how water and land management decisions affect the people, economy and environment of the Great Plains, including relationships between intermittent and ephemeral streams and playas and other ecological systems, studying the effects of irrigator-driven groundwater conservation programs on water resources and developing easy-to-use tools to estimate streamflow depletion caused by groundwater pumping. His current work in part is funded by NSF, USDA, USGS, and NASA.

Zipper has been with the Kansas Survey since 2019, and is the author or co-author of 58 scientific publications with more than 250 co-authors from more than 150 institutions. Congratulations, Sam!

https://today.ku.edu/2022/08/17/kansas-geological-survey-scientist-receives-early-career-award

Priscilla Grew wins the 2022 GSA President's Medal

Priscilla Grew, State Geologist of Minnesota from 1986 to 1993, is the 2022 winner of the GSA President’s Medal. The award is conferred on those whose impact has profoundly enhanced the geoscience profession. Priscilla was born in Glens Falls, New York, attended Bryn Mawr, earned her doctorate in geology from Berkeley in 1967, and joined the Boston College faculty. Her early research was on blueschists and eclogites in California. She later became an assistant research geologist at UCLA, and in 1977, director of the California Department of Conservation, which included the State Geological Survey and the oil and gas agency. In 1981, she was appointed to the California Public Utilities Commission. She became director of the Minnesota Geological Survey and University of Minnesota Professor in 1986. From 1993 to 1999, she was vice chancellor for research at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, and after then being faculty for a while, from 2003 to 2015, she was Director of the Nebraska Natural History Museum. Her service has been extensive, and she now is on the Finance Committee of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics. Congratulations, Priscilla!

2022 Campbell Medalist, Jean M. Bahr

The AGI Campbell Medal honors Ian Campbell, 1959-1969 State Geologist of California, whose service to our profession was profound. The Medal is presented each year to a nationally recognized, living statesperson with a distinguished record of significant achievements in science, education, and administration, in support of the profession of geology and its role in society. The 2022 Campbell Medalist is Jean Bahr, Professor Emerita, University of Wisconsin-Madison, for her unselfish service to the geosciences through proactive leadership of professional societies, inspirational mentorship of students and colleagues, valued advice on science for sound public policy at the highest levels of the Federal Government, and respected research contributions. Dr. Bahr is a highly respected hydrogeologist whose research contributions focus on the interactions between physical and biogeochemical processes in groundwater, effects of heterogeneity in solute transport, paleohydrology, groundwater and ecosystems. Congratulations, Jean! (americangeosciences.org)

Frye Award to Wisconsin

The AASG/GSA John C. Frye Memorial Award recognizes the best recently-published, nominated state geological survey or GSA publication in environmental geology.

John C. Frye joined USGS in 1938, he went to the Kansas Geological Survey in 1942, he was its Director from 1945 to 1954, he was Chief of the Illinois State Geological Survey until 1974, and he was GSA Executive Director until his retirement in 1982, shortly before his death. John was active in AASG and on national committees, and was influential in the growth of environmental geology.

The 2022 Frye Award will be presented to Wisconsin authors, for their publication: A. C. Fehling, and D. J. Hart, 2021, Potential Effects of Climate Change on Stream Temperature in the Marengo River Headwaters, Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey Bulletin 115, 74 p. Congratulations!

https://wgnhs.wisc.edu/catalog/publication/000976/resource/b115

State Geologist of Kansas, Jay Kalbas

On July 25th, 2022, Jay Kalbas will be State Geologist of Kansas. Jay has been with ExxonMobil for sixteen years, with his work most recently focusing on offshore Guyana, subsurface characterization, and fluid flow modeling. Jay has been a visiting assistant professor at Bucknell University, and has presented short courses at Purdue, University of Iowa, and LSU. He has published geologic maps, made contributions to academic literature, and delivered invited lectures. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from Furman University, a Master’s from the University of Tennessee, and a doctorate from Purdue University. Welcome, Jay!

https://today.ku.edu/2022/06/27/ku-names-new-director-lead-kansas-geological-survey

Rolfe Mandel to complete his time as State Geologist of Kansas

On July 24th 2022, Rolfe Mandel will complete his time as State Geologist of Kansas, a position he has held since 2016, as successor to Rex Buchanan. Rolfe is a Distinguished Professor of Archaeology at the University of Kansas who has been widely influential over three decades, largely based on his work on the geoarchaeology of the Great Plains and the Mediterranean. He obtained his BS in from the University of Texas at Austin in 1975, and at University of Kansas, his masters in 1980 was on paleosols in Texas, and his PhD in 1991 was on Holocene landscape evolution in southwestern Kansas. Thank-you for your service, and best wishes on your next steps, Rolfe!

Total annual funding to state geological surveys exceeds a quarter billion dollars

The 2022 Report of AASG Statistician Ken Bradbury of WI indicates that FY21 revenue to state geological surveys was $239M, with total staff of 1790 FTE; current estimates for FY22 are $263M and 1885 staff. Funding had peaked at $237M in FY12, due to the federal stimulus, and as federal funds fell by $45M, and total funding bottomed out at $216M in FY14, surveys raised diverse funds to achieve stability, although states vary. Adjusted for inflation, state surveys have been financially stable since the early 80s, although staffing has fallen in that time by a third. FY21 funding was half state-derived, and 20% federal, with the remainder in other categories. State funds are mostly recurring rather than non-recurring; whereas recurring state funds were over 90% of budgets in 1960, this fell to 40% in 2010 and has since stabilized. A significant upswing in federal funding is underway, from $51M in FY21 to an estimated $65M in FY22. Percent female among science staff has risen steadily over a decade from 24% to 30%. Publication sales have dwindled and stabilized as publications are offered for free online.

Jim Faulds, AASG President, 2022-2023

On July 1st, 2022, Jim Faulds, State Geologist of Nevada, will be President of AASG. James E. Faulds is Director, State Geologist, and Professor, at Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology, Mackay School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, University of Nevada, Reno. Jim received his B.S. from University of Montana in 1981, his M.S. from University of Arizona in 1986, and his Ph.D. from University of New Mexico in 1989. His expertise is in geologic mapping, structural geology, tectonics, paleomagnetism, and geothermal. Previously, Jim was a professor at University of Iowa from 1991 to 1997. Lead on, Jim!

 

The 2022 AASG Annual Meeting in Nevada – a great success!

After two years of pandemic online meetings, the 2022 AASG Annual Meeting was very successfully held at the Tahoe Ridge Resort in Nevada, from June 12 – 16, hosted by the Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology. The meeting included technical sessions, field trips and keynote addresses by invited speakers from science, energy, environment and policy. The meeting offered numerous optional field trips, including a field trip featuring Nevada’s hydrothermal sites. Author of the book "The Bonanza King: John Mackay and the Battle Over the Greatest Riches in the American West" Gregory Crouch spoke at the event's closing reception. What a wonderful meeting! Thanks to the organizers for a superb job.