Election: John W. Shervais was elected as Second Vice-Chair 2016-2017 (1 year term) during the 2016 balloting in August.
Dr. Shervais is Professor and former Department Head at Utah State University; he was previously Professor at the University of South Carolina (1984-2000) and a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Tennessee (1982-1984). He joined GSA in 1975 and was elected Fellow in 1993. He is also a member of AGU, the Geochemical Society, and the Geothermal Resources Council.
His research interests include the origin and evolution of mafic igneous rocks, mantle petrology, ophiolites and oceanic crust, continental volcanism, and the formation of lunar crust, as well as the tectonics of orogenic mountain belts (North American Cordillera, Appalachians, Alps, Himalaya). He is currently working on issues related to geothermal energy, and recently participated in IODP Expedition 352 to the IBM forearc to study subduction initiation. He was also Principal Investigator and Project Director for HOTSPOT, the Snake River Scientific Drilling Project.
Prior service includes co-chair of the 2011 GSA Rocky Mountain/Cordilleran Section meeting, held in Logan Utah; Associate Editor, Lunar and Planetary Science Conference Proceedings, 1987–1992; Associate Editor, Geological Society of America Bulletin, 1989–1996; and President, Drilling Observation, and Sampling of Earth’s Continental Crust (DOSECC), 2013-2016.
Dr. Shervais is honored to be part of the MGVP leadership team, and looks forward to growing this new division by recruiting new members, sponsoring technical sessions, field trips, and symposia, and working with GSA Foundation to secure its financial future. He also looks forward to strengthening ties with other GSA divisions and with Associated Societies.