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Kehew selected GSA fellow for drainage research

Aug. 8, 2008

KALAMAZOO--Western Michigan University's Dr. Alan Kehew has been selected a fellow of the prestigious Geological Society of America in recognition of his work on glacial geology and the glacial events that helped shape the northern Great Plains.

Kehew, a professor of geosciences, will be recognized for his significant contribution to science at the GSA annual meeting Oct. 4 in Houston. The GSA is a global professional society established in 1888, now with more than 21,000 members in 85 countries.

The organization is honoring Kehew for his research on the origin of drainageways in the Great Plains, which were formed by catastrophic floods from glacial lakes during the Pleistocene or Ice Ages. He started his research in the 1980s with Mark Lord, a former graduate student, when Kehew was on the faculty at the University of North Dakota. Kehew continued his research after coming to WMU in 1986. He was chair of WMU's Department of Geosciences from 1995 to 2002.

The citation also mentions his work in groundwater and environmental geology, which has been a major focus of his work at WMU and in his textbooks, "Geology for Engineers and Environmental Scientists" and "Applied Chemical Hydrogeology," both published by Prentice Hall.

Besides the GSA fellowship, Kehew also was named Michigan's 2007 Outstanding Geologist of the Year by the Michigan chapter of the American Institute of Professional Geologists. He earned his doctoral degree from the University of Idaho in 1977, his master's at Montana State University in 1971 and his bachelor's from Bucknell University in 1969.

Media contact: Deanne Molinari, (269) 387-8400, deanne.molinari@wmich.edu

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