Charles Thompson received the Department of the Interior's Award of Excellence for Accident-Free Flying for 4,500 hours of safe flying in planes that are equipped with external geophysical devices and for flying grid-line surveys at low elevations. Harry A. Tourtelot was honored as a Distinguished Alumnus by the Geology Department of the University of Nebraska. Frank Whitmore received the Arnold Guyot Memorial Award of the National Geographic Society for outstanding achievements in geology and paleontology. Philip L. McKinney, Richard M. Comerford, and Clarence L. Smith (Department of the Interior) were presented a 1992 Federal Leadership Award for giving leadership and direction to the Department of the Interior's initiative to acquire and implement a single departmentwide accounting and payment system throughout the 10 Interior bureaus. The new system replaced a number of obsolete and incompatible financial management systems and is expected to accrue substantial savings to the Government. Philip L. McKinney, Richard M. Comerford, Clarence L. Smith (Department of the Interior), Barbara L. Whitford, John L. Walbert, and Anthony B. Queern were awarded the Financial Management Service Award by the Department of the Treasury for exceptional achievements in the standardization of Interior's accounting and payment systems and payroll system. Their work has become a standard for other Federal agencies in improving their financial management procedures. The Branch of Telecommunications of the Information Systems Division received the General Services Administration's Management Excellence Award for positive contributions to the smooth transition from the old FTS network to the new FTS 2000 network. The branch was cited for developing innovative approaches to integrating voice, video, and data over long-haul circuits, analyzing FTS 2000 usage data, effecting a smooth transition to the new system at over 200 locations, and challenging network service costs that resulted in Governmentwide lowering of FTS 2000 charges. USGS employees received Honorable Mention awards in the 1993 Blue Pencil competition, sponsored by the National Association of Government Communica tors: Pixie A. Hamilton, Joan M. Rubin, and Robert J. Shedlock, for "Are Fertilizers and Pesticides in the Ground Water?" Wayne B. Solley, Robert R. Pierce, and Howard A. Perlman, for "Estimated Use of Water in the United States in 1990." Stephen Vandas and Frank Farrar, commercial artist, for "Wetlands: Water, Wildlife, Plants, and People." Jane B. Russell and John M. Watson, for "Earthquakes and Volcanoes, Vol. 22, No. 6, 1990." Public Service Recognition pecial awards were presented by the USGS to nine employees for their outstanding contributions as public servants. Those receiving Public Service Recognition Awards were: Amy L. Berger, for coordinating the first-ever Department of the Interior Conference on Accessible Technology, which has provided guidance to other agencies and bureaus in recruiting, retraining, and promoting employees with disabilities. Sherri A. Craun, for her ability to accomplish many difficult tasks simultaneously while maintaining a high level of professionalism and for establishing a work ethic that is an inspiration to her co-workers. Karen Franczyk, for her educational outreach efforts to public schools, to international visitors, and to fellow professionals in industry and academia. Barbara Herring, for exceptional management of the official records and correspondence of the Director of the USGS. Mary T. Krupa, for her commitment. to the creation of a diverse workforce through educating minority organizations and academia about the mission of the USGS and its interest in attracting minority students. George B. Madill, for his devotion to the development and operation of the national earth-science information network that links 11 USGS Earth Science Personnel, by Division Water Resources Division 4512 Geologic Division 2188 National Mapping Division 1601 Director's Office and Administrative Division 541 Information Systems Division 154 1993 total = 8996 Information Centers, 64 State agencies, and 2 Federal agencies to provide earthscience information to the public. Leslie Ogrosky, for development of software that allowed the USGS to convert to a new format for producing digital cartographic data that resulted in more accurate maps. Larry R. Shelton, for designing and developing new field equipment for use in difficult terrains and for superior recruitment and training of new technicians, resulting in a highly qualified and efficient technical staff. A. Wesley Ward, Jr., for exceptional leadership in inspiring minorities to pursue careers in science. Exemplary Act Awards Ga ary Huffman of Lansing, Mich., Trushed to the aid of an elderly man man after his truck skidded, rolled, and landed on the driver's side. Huffman turned off the vehicle's ignition, pulled the man to safety, and directed traffic around the vehicle until rescue assistance arrived. William M. Kappel of Ithaca, N.Y., provided technical assistance to local police and emergency personnel in the immediate aftermath of a landslide. By drawing on his knowledge of the geology of the area, he provided valuable advice concerning possible shifts in the slide, evacuation of homeowners, and closure of roads. Charles R. Thompson, of Golden, Colo., saved the life of a choking flightcrew member by applying the Heimlich Award for writing the Ethics Handbook for USGS employees on bureau policies and procedures regarding ethics and out-side activities. Committee members are Gabriel Paone, Departmental representative from the Office of the Solicitor; Philip M. Bethke; William J. Carswell, Jr.; Jack F. Evernden; William F. Gossman, Jr.; Maxine C. Millard; Randle W. Olsen; Frederick B. Sower; John R. Swinnerton; Jane H. Wallace; and Isaac J. Winograd. John Wesley Powell Awards ach year, the USGS presents the John Wesley Powell Awards to persons or groups outside the Federal Government for voluntary actions that result in significant gains or improvements in the efforts of the USGS to provide "Earth Science in the Public Service." The award is named in honor of John Wesley Powell, the second director of the USGS (1881-84), geologist, Civil War hero, Native American ethnographer, and pioneer explorer of the Colorado River. Powell Award recipients for 1993 were: The California Department of Transportation (CalTrans) received the Powell Award for Achievement by a State or Local Government in recognition of significant contributions to USGS marine investigations of earthquake faults in the San Francisco Bay area. In 1991, the Department provided several boats and operators to work with USGS scientists in the daily deployment and retrieval of sensitive instruments along the edges of the dredged channels in San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun bays. Thanks to this support from CalTrans, the USGS was able to obtain unprecedented state-of-theart seismic reflection data in an urban region of active geologic faulting. InterNetwork, Inc., received the award for Achievement in Industry for working with the USGS on development of an exceptional and innovative data and information system to disseminate global change information. The partnership produced the first electronic science journal and is encouraging the research community to discover new ways of communicating the results of scientific investigations to nontechnical audiences, FOR SCIENCE USGS has one of the Department of the Interior's highest employment rates for persons with disabilities and is continuing its efforts to make career opportunities accessible. Volunteerism, another area in which the USGS has a strong program, seeks to augment the workforce and to provide interesting and informative work experiences for volunteers. USGS employees continue to be involved in the communities in which they work by making classroom presentations, participating in community outreach programs, and establishing partnerships with local schools. Volunteer for Science Program The he Volunteer for Science program continues to be a success in communities across the Nation where USGS offices are located. For example, the program allowed several students with disabilities from public schools in Fairfax County, Va., to acquire basic job experience by volunteering as clerical assistants at USGS headquarters, doing filing, photocopying, and mailing in several offices. In the program's 7 years, 4,900 persons from all walks of life have donated more than 1 million hours of service to the USGS, a contribution worth an estimated $12 million. Interest in the program continues to grow each year. In FY 1993, nearly 500 individual requests for information on the Volunteer for Science program were received. The Volunteer/ Intern/Teacher Opportunities Handbook, a guide to volunteer opportunities throughout the USGS, was mailed to 1,000 colleges and universities and 400 teachers and other professionals. An additional 5,000 copies were distributed at career fairs, science and education conferences, the USGS Open House in Denver, volunteer conferences, and public libraries. On August 10, 1993, the Seventh Annual Volunteer Recognition Ceremony honored more than 250 volunteers who served in Reston, Va., during the past year. VOLUNTEER USGS all Department of the Interior bureaus could view and learn more about their counterpart bureaus. Among the most popular of the more than 200 USGS exhibits were panning for gold, making fossil casts and molds, looking at rocks under a microscope, reading a map and using a compass, and investigating the chemistry of liquid nitrogen. Additional highlights included images of the sea floor arranged in a 160-foot-long mosaic, laboratory tours, electron microprobe instruments, and mobile laboratories where visitors could see for themselves how rock samples are analyzed in the field. Telephone lines extended to a tent allowed the public to view real-time geomagnetic data transmitted from six USGS field sites and some Canadian sites. Attendee question naires received from as far |