MARY W. STOERTZ' MANY AND VARIED CONTRIBUTIONS TO HYDROGEOLOGIC SCIENCE

As reflected in the title of the session, Dr. Mary W. Stoertz' main areas of scholarship included quantification of groundwater recharge and restoration of streams impacted by acid drainage from coal mining. While the majority of talks will recognize Mary's numerous and varied contributions to these areas of hydrogeology, we would like to focus on her other, less-quantifiable, and perhaps less recognized, contributions to our field.

Dr. Stoertz obtained her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Wisconsin and served as a role model and mentor to a cadre of fellow graduate students who's later influence on hydrogeologic science is unquestionable. While at UW, Mary provided intellectual leadership for the hydrogeology group and her disciplined work habits, and unselfish sharing of both her time and enthusiasm helped “raise the bar” for the group. Mary's role as mentor expanded when she came to Ohio and she worked with a diverse group of people – graduate students and colleagues as a professor is expected to do, but also undergraduates interested in campus sustainability, community groups concerned about their watersheds, mining companies – anyone who shared her interests and passions. Her work also includes contributions to National Research Council Committees on which she served as a member, as well as service to several professional societies including GSA. While Mary also contributed to the scientific literature, that body of written work belies her substantive impact on the profession as a mentor, colleague, friend, and leader who worked passionately at the intersection of many disciplines to solve important problems doing “science that matters”.