索科罗,N.M. – A public servant who advanced the role of 地球科学 in public policy will be 在新墨西哥州国会大厦被认可. 23. 新墨西哥州地质局 and 矿产资源, in cooperation with the 状态 Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department, will present the Earth Science Achievement Award for 2023 to 丹尼斯McQuillan during a noon ceremony in the Roundhouse Rotunda in conjunction with 地球科学/新墨西哥技术日. NMT academic and research divisions and 地球科学-focused 状态, federal and private sector groups will staff tables from 9 a.m. 到3点.m. 的 public is invited to visit the Roundhouse and attend the awards ceremony.

McQuillan graduated from the University of New Mexico in 1978 with a bachelor’s degree 主修地质学，辅修化学、数学和物理. 在他职业生涯的早期 the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED), mentors Maxine Goad and John Hawley (two previous Earth Science Achievement Award recipients), trained McQuillan to be an expert witness, a skill that he used in administrative, legislative, and adjudicatory 诉讼. As he became involved with the fields of public health, civil and sanitary engineering, public relations, and microbiology, Hawley helped to keep McQuillan firmly grounded in geology, which strongly influences the migration, transformation, and 清理地下水污染.

At NMED McQuillan developed new regulatory frameworks and programs aimed at advancing the health and safety of all New Mexicans through citizen engagement and education. Following recognition that private domestic well users were not protected by the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, McQuillan created the “Water Fair” program in 1982, using portable field instruments to provide free screening of private domestic well water. McQuillan was instrumental in assembling a team of industry, citizen, and local government organizations to draft comprehensive regulations for the prevention and abatement of water pollution to replace the practice of negotiating legally binding cleanup 在个案基础上的协议. 最近，他在美国的 emergency response to the Gold King Mine (GKM) spill, which impacted communities along 阿尼玛斯河和圣胡安河. 他从国家机构中招募了顶尖专家 universities to develop and implement a long-term program to monitor the effects of 漏油事件. After retiring from NMED in 2020, McQuillan continued to serve as New Mexico’s expert in the GKM litigation, which resulted in $48 million in settlements for the 状态. 

Nominations for next year’s awards, first initiated in 2003, are welcome from the general public and may be made directly to the director of the Bureau of Geology and 矿产资源.