SOCORRO, N.M. – The New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources will officially present the 2020 Earth Science Achievement Award for Research and Education to Nathan C. Myers for an outstanding career of scientific research with the United States Geological Survey (USGS). The presentation will be at noon Monday, February 3, in the rotunda of the state capitol in Santa Fe.

Nathan Myers (pictured) joined the USGS in 1987 as a “Volunteer for Science” in the Kansas District and shortly thereafter was hired as a hydrologist. In July 2000, Myers accepted a position as a Studies Section supervisor in the USGS New Mexico Water Science Center (NM WSC) in Albuquerque, fulfilling his long-held dream of living and working in the western U.S.

Once in New Mexico, Myers supervised a diverse team of technicians and hydrologists whose projects included work at Cannon Air Force Base, White Sands Missile Range, Questa Mine, the Sacramento Mountains, and Lee Acres Landfill near Farmington. During his tenure as a Studies Section supervisor, project chiefs under Myers’s direction executed 39 projects and published 50 reports.

After 13 years as a supervisor, Myers became the Groundwater Specialist and Senior Scientist for the NM WSC. In this position, Nathan developed and advised on many groundwater-related scientific investigations throughout New Mexico for USGS Federal, State, Tribal, and local cooperators and stakeholders, including setting the vision for the science conducted and developing a plan for execution. These projects include but were not limited to: groundwater-flow modeling of the lower Rio Grande Basin; a statewide groundwater-level monitoring network; several groundwater-related projects in the Albuquerque basin; and a water-resources assessment of the Rio San Jose Basin.

Finally, Myers developed and managed the Kirtland Air Force Base fuel-plume project, which is the largest single active project in the NM WSC. Myers’s scientific body of work is incredibly impressive, but a significant portion of his legacy is the staff he mentored, the USGS leadership he advised, and his impact through personal interactions with stakeholders. Through his influence on the next generation of scientists, his contribution to the science produced by the USGS in New Mexico will continue long into the future.

The award presentation coincides with Earth Science/New Mexico Tech Day at the Roundhouse. New Mexico Tech academic and research divisions, as well as other agencies with an earth science focus, will be staffing tables and displays on the ground floor of the Roundhouse from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The public is invited to visit the Roundhouse throughout the day and to attend the ceremony.

The New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources is a non-regulatory research and service division of New Mexico Tech in Socorro. For 93 years, the Bureau has served as the geological survey for the state of New Mexico. Nominations for next year’s awards are welcome from the general public and may be submitted directly to the director of the Bureau of Geology.

– NMT –