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South Dakota Section, American Institute of Professional Geologists Section Screening Chairman Tom Durkin presents the 2019
South Dakota Section, American Institute of Professional Geologists
Section Screening Chairman Tom Durkin presents the 2019
J.P. Gries Geologist of the Year award to Dr. Rachel Benton. Award announced March 17, 2019, at the AIPG South Dakota Section
annual meeting, Pierre, SD. Award presented at SDSM&T, Rapid City, SD on May 2, 2019. Photo taken by J. Foster Sawyer.
2019 J.P. Gries Geologist of the Year award announced
March 17, 2019 – The South Dakota section of the American Institute of Professional Geologists (SD-AIPG) has named Dr. Rachel C. Benton as 2019 J.P. Gries Geologist of the Year. The award is named in honor of Dr. John Paul Gries for his exceptional work in the field of geology and is provided each year by the South Dakota Section of AIPG in memory of Dr. Gries, a longtime geology professor at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. Dr. Benton's nomination included the following:
Dr. Rachel C. Benton earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Geology from Denison University, a Master of Science degree in Paleontology from the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology, and a Doctorate of Philosophy in Geology from the University of Iowa. Over the course of her distinguished career, she has worked at the Smithsonian Institution and at numerous National Park Service venues including Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, Big Bend National Park, Wind Cave National Park, Fossil Butte National Monument, and Badlands National Park.
Dr. Benton served as the Park Paleontologist at Badlands National Park for approximately 25 years where she became a leading expert on the paleontology and geology of the Big Badlands of South Dakota. During her tenure at Badlands National Park, she facilitated countless research projects including 15 years of research and excavations at the “Big Pig Dig” which yielded thousands of fossilized bones of ancient pigs, rhinos, horses, and many other taxa. Through her work at the Badlands, she also mentored numerous aspiring paleontologists, giving them unparalleled opportunities to learn and develop into future professional paleontologists. Dr. Benton continues to serve as a source of geologic and paleontologic knowledge through her volunteer work at Badlands National Park and at the Museum of Geology at the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology.
Through the course of her distinguished career, Dr. Benton also published numerous technical papers and other publications pertaining to Oligocene and Quaternary paleontology and geology, and in 2015 she was first author on a publication titled “The White River Badlands: Geology and Paleontology”, a definitive volume replacing and greatly expanding a classic work titled “The White River Badlands” that was published approximately 100 years ago.
Previous J.P. Gries award recipients include Gary Haag with the United States Forest Service, Richard Hammond with Heine Electric and Irrigation; South Dakota School of Mines & Technology professors Dr. Arden Davis, Dr. Colin Paterson, Dr. Edward Duke, Dr. Perry Rahn, Dr. Jack Redden, Dr. Alvis Lisenbee, Dr. James Fox, and Dr. J. Foster Sawyer, Mark Anderson and Janet Carter with the United States Geological Survey, and South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources geologists Dr. Mark Fahrenbach, Fred Steece, and Derric Iles.
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