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Tsunami Researchers Win the Western Region Communicator of the Year Award
At the Western Region Awards Ceremony held October 12, 2005, in Menlo Park, CA, the Communicator of the Year Award was given to Brian Atwater (Earthquake Hazards Program [EHZ]), Eric Geist (Coastal and Marine Geology Program [CMG]), Guy Gelfenbaum (CMG), Bruce Jaffe (CMG), David Oppenheimer (EHZ), and Craig Weaver (EHZ) for their responses to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. The award was presented by Western Region Chief of Communications Stephanie Hanna, who said: "Selecting from the great communicators here in the Western Region is always difficult. We have benefited on many occasions from talented spokespeople, willing to stand for hours downstairs in the visitors center, to get up in the middle of the night or go out on a weekend to do a national news program, to devote hundreds of hours to ensure that our presence at conferences presents the best face of the USGS for important customers and stakeholders, or to write articles for publications that give recognition to our scientific milestones and accomplishments. "This year, the Communicator of the Year Award goes to an ad hoc group that tirelessly responded to the devastating tsunami that hit 11 Indian Ocean countries following a major earthquake that occurred on Christmas Eve, Pacific time. Suddenly and for the next several weeks, they responded to countless media requests, gave up family time during the holidays, traveled to the hardest-hit areas, and turned the USGS into a major source, partner, and contributor in the science of tsunamis. Most of all, this group helped to educate Americans that tsunami risk is not just present in Alaska, Hawai'i, and distant lands, but is a very real threat to our coasts, and that only preparedness and real-time warning systems can avert future catastrophic loss of life. So, this is a group of lifesavers, not just to us in [the Office of] Communications but in a very real sense to all of us. Brian Atwater, who made Time magazine's top 100; Bruce Jaffe, who's on every reporter's speed-dial, it seems; David Oppenheimer, our representative on the Pacific Tsunami Council; Eric Geist, earthquake and tsunami expert; Guy Gelfenbaum, who lent his expertise to the international effort; and Craig Weaver, who held many public meetings in the Pacific Northwest (even with the families of the first responders on the USS Abraham Lincoln), are our Communicators of the Year for 2005. We are also very grateful to [Western Coastal and Marine Geology] team chief Sam Johnson and to the outreach efforts of [Western Coastal and Marine Geology team outreach coordinator] Helen Gibbons."
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in this issue:
Sea Squirt Colonies Persist on Georges Bank
USGS Woods Hole Staff Go to Washington, D.C., for Oceans 2005 USGS Scientists Featured in News Segment on Broken Levees
Keith Miles Wins Unsung Hero Award Marlene Noble Wins Reimbursable Activities Recognition Award Tsunami Researchers Win the Western Region Communicator of the Year Award USGS Volunteer Wins AAPG Pacific Section Award for Best Paper |
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U. S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
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