Bureau of Geology News

New Mexico Tech is a partner in a project that has been awarded $1 million from the U.S. National Science Foundation’s Regional Innovation Engines, or NSF Engines, program. NMT and its partners are among the more than 40 unique teams to receive one of the first-ever NSF Engines Development Awards, which aim to help partners collaborate to create economic, societal and technological opportunities for their regions.

Focusing on sustainable energy resources and workforce development, New Mexico Tech, six other regional universities, two national laboratories, and a center for advanced energy research have launched a consortium aimed at developing and diversifying the Permian Basin’s economic viability. The partners recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the Permian Energy Development Laboratory (PEDL).

The annual workshop, hosted by the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources, aims to be a connecting point for the scientists and government professionals involved in the effort to better quantify an increasingly scarce natural resource. Speakers throughout the daylong conference detailed how their organizations are collecting, sharing, storing, and reporting data about everything from groundwater levels and wells to streams and rivers, weather, water quality, and historic data.

Dr. Kent Condie received the 2023 Earth Science Achievement Award for “outstanding contributions advancing the role of earth science in areas of research and education” during the New Mexico Geological Society Annual Spring Meeting held at Macey Center on the campus of New Mexico Tech on April 21, 2023. The award was presented by Dr. Nelia Dunbar, director of the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources.

Mark Mansell, our valued friend and colleague and long-time employee of the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources, passed away on April 4, 2023. He was 61.

NMBGMR is one of three collaborators on a project funded by the Department of Energy to study a novel CO₂ sequestration technique. Click on the headline or map to access the full article.

The New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources' Mineral Museum was recently the subject of a piece in New Mexico Magazine. Managing Editor Kate Nelson spoke with Kelsey McNamara, mineral museum curator, and Nelia Dunbar, state geologist and Bureau director, about our “rock-solid collection” of minerals from New Mexico and around the world, as well as other museum treasures. The article also gives recommendations for exploring the New Mexico Tech campus and the surrounding area. For 100 years, New Mexico Magazine has documented the arts, culture, people, and places of the Land of Enchantment, and we’re thrilled they have highlighted our Mineral Museum. Read the full article here.

The U.S. Geological Survey will provide nearly $3.4 million to map critical mineral resources in New Mexico in partnership with the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources.

The funding will support airborne magnetic and radiometric surveys covering more than 10,000 square miles in the mineral-resource-rich southwestern corner of the state. Airborne data collection efforts will parallel companion grants to the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources that will support geochemical mapping and mine waste studies in southwestern New Mexico.

For more information, please refer to the U.S. Geological Survey press release.

Many geoscientists and NMT and throughout the southwest will remember Rich Esser, who finished an MS degree at New Mexico Tech in 1996, and then worked in the Argon Lab at the Bureau for a number of years. He went from here to University of Utah, where he continued to collaborate with people at NMT on a range of projects.

Rich went missing from his home on Wednesday evening, and his body was found on February 3, 2023 in the mountains to the east of his house in Salt Lake City. I'm so sorry to have to share this terribly sad news with you. Rich was a dear friend to many of us. I spent many Antarctic field seasons with him, and couldn't have asked for a kinder, pleasanter, or more generous field companion. I am heartbroken that I'll never see him and talk to him again. He leaves his wife Dina, and two young sons, Solomon and Knut. A GoFundMe page has been created to help the Esser family with funeral and living expenses.

— Nelia Dunbar

A story in the Jan. 19, 2023, El Defensor Chieftain about water legislation pending during the 2023 legislative session cites a recent presentation by New Mexico State Geologist Dr. Nelia Dunbar. Dr. Dunbar's presentation detailed findings from the report, “Climate Change in New Mexico Over the Next 50 Years: Impacts on Water Resources.”