James Taranik

James Vladimir Taranik (* 23. April 1940 in Los Angeles , California ; † 21st June 2011 in Reno , Nevada ) was an American geologist and physicist who as a geophysicist and technologist during the early space shuttle missions for NASA worked and later, as President of the Desert Research Institute (DRI), used sophisticated satellite imagery for new research areas of the institute such as environmental research and geological exploration.

Life

James Vladimir Taranik, son of Vladimir Taranik and Jeanette Taranik, studied geology at Stanford University after attending school , from which he graduated in 1964 with a Bachelor of Science (BS Geology). During the Vietnam War he served in the engineering command of the US Army Vietnam (USARV) and received the Bronze Star Medal in 1970 for his military services . He later began postgraduate studies in geology at the Colorado School of Mines (CSM), where he completed a Doctor of Philosophy ( Ph.D. Geology) in 1974 . In 1975, he began his professional career in which the US Department of Interior belonging Geological Survey ( US Geological Survey ) , as a senior scientist at the Center for observation and science of Earth's resources EROS for it until 1979 (Center for Earth Resources Observation and Science) worked. During this time he became a 1978 Fellow of the Geological Society of America (GSA).

In 1979 Taranik moved to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA ) , where he worked as a program scientist on the early space shuttle missions until 1982 . In 1982 he was awarded the NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal . He then took up a professorship in geophysics at the University of Nevada, Reno in 1982 and taught there until 1987. At the same time, between 1982 and 1987 he was dean of the Mackay School of Mines, which is part of the University of Nevada in Reno and which is now the Mackay School of Earth Sciences and Engineering emerged. During this time he became a Fellow of The Explorers Club and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in 1985 and was also a board member of the gold mining company Newmont Mining from 1986 to 2010 , which includes the Super-Pit gold mine , Yanacocha , Boddington Gold Mine, Jundee Gold Mine and Batu Hijau Mine. In 1987 he became President of the Desert Research Institute (DRI) and in this position pushed the use of highly developed satellite images for new research areas of the institute such as environmental research and geological exploration until 1998 . In 1994 he became a member of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) and between 1997 and 2002 was a member of the board of directors of EarthSat , which was one of the first companies to use earth observation satellites commercially.

From 2000 to 2004, James Taranik was director of the Great Basin Center for Geothermal Energy, which also belongs to the University of Nevada in Reno, and was also a member of the board of Klamath Basin Geopower between 2002 and 2011. He was also director of the Mackay School of Earth Sciences and Engineering from 2004 to 2009 and subsequently taught as Professor of Geological Sciences and Engineering at the University of Nevada at Reno from 2009 until his death in 2011. He was also a member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists , American Astronautical Society, American Geological Institute Foundation, American Geophysical Union , American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), Mountain States Legal Foundation and the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG).

His marriage to Colleen Taranik had a son and a daughter.

Web link

• James Taranik in nndb (English)