SAND AND LAVA AND GILBERT, OH MY! ONE WAY TO MAKE A PLANETARY GEOLOGIST

Grove Karl Gilbert was a pioneer of modern geomorphology; he authored some of the most iconic reports in the geologic literature through brilliant insight into the forces that produced the dramatic landscapes of the western U.S. Add to this his roles as Chief Geologist of the U.S. Geological Survey, a founding member of the National Geographic Society, twice the President of GSA, and you have a true ‘rock star’. I was stunned when I was told that I was the 2020 G. K. Gilbert Award winner. My career path can’t compare to Gilbert’s storied life, but I feel privileged to have lived during the spacecraft era that initiated the field of planetary geology. My fascination with the planets started as I watched grainy TV images of astronauts going first into orbit and then on to the lunar surface. Coincident with Apollo, robotic explorers opened humanity’s eyes to the diversity of the solar system. As a graduate student at UCLA, I participated on the Infrared Thermal Mapper experiment on the Viking Orbiters, which crystalized my life-long fascination with the Red Planet. PhD work at ASU developed my twin interests in aeolian processes and basaltic volcanism, and the Lunar and Planetary Institute allowed me to explore research opportunities in both subjects. The second half of my life has been spent as a geologist at the Center for Earth and Planetary Studies, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution. Here I was encouraged to pursue my planetary research interests while also discovering the joy of presenting the wonders of planetary geology to the public and mentoring students at all levels. I could not have believed as a middle schooler that I would be allowed to spend my life doing such things. The investigative techniques used so adeptly by Gilbert can today be applied to surfaces that he could not have imagined. The Planetary Geology Division of GSA will help the next generation to realize that “one planet just isn’t enough”.