AIPG South Dakota Section President Tom Durkin (left) presents the 2012 J.P. Gries Geologist of the Year award to Dr. Mark Fahrenbach (right.)
Award presented Sept., 24, 2012 at AIPG National Meeting Awards Ceremony, Rapid City, SD.
AIPG South Dakota Section
President Tom Durkin (left) presents the 2012 J.P. Gries Geologist of
the Year award to Dr. Mark Fahrenbach (right.)
Award presented Sept., 24, 2012 at AIPG National
Meeting Awards Ceremony, Rapid City, SD.
School of Mines News
South Dakota School of Mines & Technology
501 E. Saint Joseph St.
Rapid City, SD 57701-3995
2012 J.P. Gries Geologist of the Year award announced
RAPID CITY, S.D. (Dec. 6, 2012) – The South Dakota section of the American Institute of Professional Geologists (AIPG) has named School of Mines alumnus Dr. Mark Fahrenbach as 2012 J.P. Gries Geologist of the Year.
Dr. Fahrenbach, who earned a Ph.D. in geology from the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology in 1995, has served as a geological consultant for SDSM&T. He is an environmental scientist III with the Geological Survey Program, South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
The award is named in honor of Dr. John Paul Gries for his exceptional work in the field of geology and is given each year in memory of Dr. Gries, a longtime geology professor at the School of Mines. Dr. Fahrenbach was nominated by Derric Iles, South Dakota State Geologist, and received the honor for his many contributions in furthering the understanding of the state’s geology. The 2012 award was presented in September at the 49th AIPG national meeting held in Rapid City.
Dr. Fahrenbach graduated from Lansing Community College, Lansing, Mich., in 1980 with an A.S. in geology. In 1984, he graduated from Michigan State University with a B.S. in geology before eventually earning his doctorate from the School of Mines.
Dr. Fahrenbach has nearly 18 years of service as a geologist with the DENR’s Geological Survey Program. During that time, he has been the primary author, or co-author, on several geologic maps ranging from the 1:500,000-scale Geologic Map of South Dakota published in 2004 to 1:24,000-scale maps of surface geology in the Black Hills.
Throughout his career, Dr. Fahrenbach has quietly gone about the business of producing geologic information and maps that are the foundation for understanding South Dakota’s geologic resources. He has become a respected authority on the geology of the Black Hills and has routinely hiked several hundred miles through rugged terrain during a single field season. In his own words, he is a perfectionist to a fault. That particular character trait provides the assurance that geologic maps produced by him are accurate, scientifically defendable, and of value to the State.
In addition to consulting for SDSM&T, Dr. Fahrenbach has served as a consultant for Badlands National Park, and Jewel Cave National Monument. He has more than 31 years of geological and paleontological field experience in the Black Hills.
Previous J. P. Gries award recipients include State Geologist Derric Iles of the DENR’s Geological Survey Program, Fred Steece of the DENR’s Minerals and Mining Program, and Drs. James Fox, Alvis Lisenbee, J. Foster Sawyer, Perry H. Rahn, Jack Redden and Edward Duke of SDSM&T.
###
MEDIA CONTACT
Tom Durkin
President, AIPG SD Section
(605) 394-1975