M.
Gordon "Reds" Wolman to Receive
2002 Nevada Medal
Dr.
M. Gordon "Reds" Wolman. - Photo courtesy of Johns Hopkins University |
Johns
Hopkins University Professor M. Gordon "Reds"
Wolman, a pioneer in studying water quality issues and
how surface waters influence the shape of the Earth's
landforms—hydrology and geomorphology - received
the Desert Research Institute's 2002 Nevada Medal.
A National
Academy of Sciences member, Dr. Wolman formally accepted
the award at ceremonies in Las Vegas on March 18, and
in Reno on March 20. The eight-ounce, pure silver, minted
medallion and $10,000 prize are provided by SBC Nevada
Bell.
Wolman also
presented the 2002 Nevada Medal Lectures at DRI's Las
Vegas campus on March 18, and then at DRI's Reno campus
on March 19. The lecture's topic, "An Easterner's
View of a Westerner's View of Land and Water," examined
the two regions' differences in objectives and perspectives
on land use planning and water resource management.
Wolman is internationally
known for his research on how rivers and other surface
water systems evolve and how they modify the landscape.
DRI President
Stephen G. Wells, himself a geomorphologist, says no other
individual has influenced the field of geomorphology more
than Wolman. "Reds' early work on watershed processes
in the 1950s is still a standard by which present research
is measured. More than forty years ago, well before scientists
began to focus on the interaction of humans with their
environment, Wolman was describing the fundamental hydrologic
concepts that are still guiding our considerations of
water quality management and public policy. Much of his
work has provided the basis for current national science
policy."
A central theme
of Wolman's research has been the relative roles of human
and natural forces in shaping the land and waters of the
Earth. Many of his professional and policy interests have
been fostered by field work and exposure to resource issues
in the West.
Wolman received
the American Geological Institute's most prestigious award,
the Ian Campbell Medal, in 1997, and the Geological Society
of America's highest award, the Penrose Medal, in 1992.
He served as president of the society in 1984, and of
the American Geophysical Union's Hydrology Section from
1970 to 1972. He won the American Geophysical Union's
Robert Horton Award in 2000. The award, which recognizes
outstanding contributions to the geophysical aspects of
hydrology, was awarded to his father, Abel Wolman, in
1986.
Wolman has
been a member of the Johns Hopkins University faculty
for 44 years, and chairman of the school's Department
of Geography and Environmental Engineering for several
decades. He has served on numerous national, international,
and regional committees and panels concerning water policy,
water quality, and the management of surface water processes.
The Baltimore,
Maryland, native earned a bachelor of arts degree from
Johns Hopkins in 1949, and master's and doctoral degrees
in geology from Harvard University in 1951 and 1953. After
graduate study, he joined the U.S. Geological Survey,
beginning his extensive research on the workings of rivers,
focusing first on Brandywine Creek, Pennsylvania. His
classic analysis on the project resulted in that small
watershed becoming known among hydrologists worldwide.
Wolman joined
two other prominent scientists, Luna Leopold and John
P. Miller, in authoring the classic hydrology textbook,
Fluvial Processes in Geomorphology, in 1965. Republished
in 1995, it is required reading for a new generation of
aspiring fluvial geomorphologists, and is still considered
a current scientific reference.
-John Doherty
