SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - A University of Utah professor will be honored for his work on volcanism and earthquakes around the Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks.
The Boulder, Colo.-based Geological Society of America says it will recognize Robert W. Smith in November with its 2012 George P. Woollard Award.
The geophysics professor doubles as a coordinating scientist for the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, which monitors quakes and ground deformation in the Yellowstone region.
A year ago, Smith created an image of a vast plume of magma 60 to 200 miles under Yellowstone. Some of the magma feeds Yellowstone's volcanic activity from a smaller chamber five miles underground.
Smith also picked up the John Wesley Power award from the U.S. Geological Survey last year.
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