U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) emeritus geologist Michael E. Field has been awarded the highest merit award of the Department of the Interior, the Distinguished Service Award, in recognition of his outstanding scientific contributions to the study of coastal and marine geology and his exemplary leadership within the USGS and the scientific community. The honor was announced at a Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center awards ceremony in Santa Cruz, California, on June 19, 2013. The citation letter, signed by Interior Secretary Sally Jewell on May 2, 2013, describes Mike’s many achievements.

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"Dr. Field’s four-decade career as a geologist for the U.S. Government encompasses complex research that spans the globe from deep-sea fans to shallow coral reef environments. Dr. Field is a world leader in the study of coastal and marine sedimentology using a range of cutting-edge methods. As a pioneer of the first U.S. effort to systematically map the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the Pacific Ocean, he conceptualized, led, and conducted creative studies of the morphology and sedimentology of continental shelf systems. These efforts spurred his interest in marine stratification in response to changes in sediment input, sea level, and climate change, about which he is now an acknowledged international expert.

"During the 1990s, Dr. Field served as the USGS Pacific Marine Geology Branch Chief. While leading the Branch, he guided the evolution of a national program for USGS Coastal and Marine studies and defined major new research directions that included important marine geologic hazard and environmental issues. As part of this transition, he conceptualized and spearheaded the USGS Coastal and Marine Geology Program’s efforts to study the Nation’s coral reefs.This effort, continuing for more than a decade, has solidified the role of the USGS Coastal and Marine Geology Program as a world leader in mapping, measuring, and modeling terrestrial sediment impacts to coral reefs, garnering numerous awards and accolades from the USGS and international coral reef community.

"Dr. Field’s expertise and vision for the future led him to establish the USGS Pacific Science Center and made it a founding member of the Monterey Bay Research Crescent Ocean Research Consortium, which comprises 26 organizations and is the largest concentration of marine science educational and research institutions in the world. Dr. Field has been active in several professional societies, serving as Treasurer of the National Society for Sedimentary Geology and on the editorial boards of Marine Geology and the Journal of Sedimentary Research. He is a superb leader who has inspired and motivated many young and senior scientists.

“For his outstanding scientific contributions to the study of coastal and marine sedimentology, and for his leadership to the USGS and the scientific community at large, Dr. Michael E. Field is granted the highest honor of the Department of the Interior, the Distinguished Service Award.”