June 11, 2012 – The Geological Society of America has given its George P. Woollard Award for outstanding contributions to geophysics to University of Utah geophysicist Robert B. Smith, a world expert on earthquakes and volcanism in the Yellowstone National Park region.

Smith will be recognized during the group’s annual meeting in November in Charlotte, N.C.

It is the latest in a string of awards for Smith, who last fall was honored with the 2011 John Wesley Powell Award from the U.S. Geological Survey.

Smith is a University of Utah professor emeritus and research professor of geophysics, and a coordinating scientist at the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory run jointly by the USGS, the University of Utah and National Park Service.

He is recognized as a leading expert on quakes and volcanism in the Yellowstone-Grand Teton National Park region, and for operating seismic and Global Positioning System networks that record quakes and ground deformation in the region.