Jonathan G. Price
Jon is a consulting geologist and the Nevada State Geologist Emeritus. Jon was the State Geologist and Director of the Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology (NBMG) from 1988 until his retirement from the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) in 2012. He earned a bachelor’s degree in geology and German from Lehigh University in 1972 and master’s (1975) and Ph.D. (1977) degrees in geology from the University of California, Berkeley (dissertation on Yerington under the supervision of Chuck Meyer). He spent the year between undergraduate and graduate studies on a fellowship from the German Academic Exchange Service at the Universität Heidelberg, where his interests in ore deposits began with courses from Paul Ramdohr, Chris Amstutz, and Ulrich Petersen.
His geological career has included experience with industry (Anaconda in the summers of 1974 & 1975; U.S. Steel Corporation, 1977-1981), teaching (Bucknell University, University of Texas at Austin, and UNR), research (Texas Bureau of Economic Geology and NBMG), and government. He has worked in copper, iron, uranium, and gold exploration and mining; taught undergraduate and graduate geology courses and supervised graduate theses; and conducted and directed research at state geological surveys. Jon’s research publications have covered a breadth of topics, including geology and geochemistry of ore deposits, igneous petrology, aqueous geochemistry, environmental geochemistry, solution mining, geological hazards, and geological mapping. Many of his mineral-deposit- related studies have focused on ores associated with rhyolitic magmas, including beryllium, lithium, fluorite, and rare earths.
During 1993 and 1994, Jon was on loan from UNR to the National Research Council in Washington, D.C. as the staff director of the Board on Earth Sciences and Resources, which provided advice to the federal government on issues related to the Earth sciences and natural resources, including petroleum and minerals.
He was the 1997 President of the American Institute of Professional Geologists, the 1998-2002 President and Chair of the Board of Directors of the Western States Seismic Policy Council, the 2000-2001 President of the Association of American State Geologists, the 2003 President of the Society of Economic Geologists, the 2006-2007 President of the Nevada Petroleum Society, the 2014-2015 President of the Geological Society of Nevada, and the 2015-2016 President of the Geological Society of America. He has also volunteered with other professional and scientific organizations, including the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, American Geophysical Union, American Geosciences Institute, Association of Environmental and Engineering Geologists, Mining and Metallurgical Society of America, National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum, Nevada Mineral Exploration Coalition, Nevada Mining Association, and Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration.
Jon has been the recipient of several awards: the 2009 American Geological Institute’s Medal in Memory of Ian Campbell for Superlative Service to the Geosciences, the 2010 Geological Society of America’s Public Service Award in Honor of Eugene and Carolyn Shoemaker, the 2012 Western States Seismic Policy Council’s Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2013 Gold Medal of the Mining and Metallurgical Society of America, and the 2013 Ben H. Parker Memorial Medal and the 1999 John T. Galey, Sr. Memorial Public Service Award of the American Institute of Professional Geologists.
Jon’s consulting work has included projects with mining and exploration companies, mineral- rights owners, and federal agencies, including investigation of mining fraud and review of the fate of radionuclides from underground nuclear explosions.
Beth and Jon have been happily married since 1972 and have two children, Alex (engineer) and Argenta (biochemist), neither of whom took a geology course in college. Their first grandchild, Argenta’s daughter, Ada Elisabeth Hoffmann, was born in 2017. Beth and Jon collaborated as first aid instructors and volunteers for the American Red Cross while in Texas and currently serve as U.S.A. Track and Field officials, primarily as race-walk judges, track-event umpires, and horizontal-jump and cross-country officials at meets throughout the country. In their free time, they play bridge and walk (at least two miles per day since January 1, 2004).