Research geologist Brian Atwater was recently awarded the 2014 U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Shoemaker Award for Lifetime Achievement in Communications, given annually to a USGS scientist who “creates excitement and enthusiasm for science among non-scientists by using effective communication skills.” Here is an excerpt from the March 31, 2015, announcement:

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“In more than 20 years of investigating great megathrust earthquakes and tsunamis, Brian has helped keep at-risk communities around the world safer. The key has been his ability to communicate and translate field observations of long-ago tsunamis into a picture of what could happen now that is understandable to lay audiences. [For example, see “The Orphan Tsunami of 1700—Japanese Clues to a Parent Earthquake in North America.”] As a result, the emergency-response community can meaningfully convey these scientific observations to the general public and develop local response and evacuation plans. His efforts to engage international scientists in his fieldwork reflect his strong personal desire to train others not only in the best scientific methods and techniques of the field but also in how to educate government and media about the goals and implications of the investigations these scientists conduct in their own countries. He is recognized in the field as a natural spokesperson in light of his skill at educating audiences through public meetings, radio broadcasts [for example, “Unearthing Proof of a Tsunami in the Northwest”], television documentaries, and magazine and journal articles about the true potential for, and hazards of, megathrust earthquakes and tsunamis.”

Brian has received many honors, among them the USGS Excellence in Leadership Award, election to the National Academy of Sciences, and inclusion in “The 2005 Time 100,” Time magazine’s list of the world’s 100 most influential people in 2005. 

The Shoemaker Awards Competition was established in 1997 in memory of Eugene M. Shoemaker to recognize extraordinary examples of communicating and translating complex scientific concepts and discoveries into words and pictures that capture the interest and imagination of the American public. Shoemaker, a USGS astrogeologist considered the founder of the science of lunar and planetary geology, was an effective and prolific communicator, as well as an innovative scientist and researcher. Today, many USGS employees—like Brian Atwater—carry on his enthusiasm, giving voice to all our science programs.

Read about another effort by USGS scientists to help vulnerable communities prepare for tsunamis in “Getting Out of Harm’s Way—Evacuation from Tsunamis.”