Utah Geological Survey’s Post

The Utah Geological Association (UGA) and the UGS presented the 2024 Lehi Hintze Award to Bob Biek for his outstanding contributions to Utah geology. Bob received his B.A. in geology from the University of California at Berkeley and M.S. in geology from Northern Illinois University and spent four years with the North Dakota Geological Survey before joining the Utah Geological Survey (UGS) Geologic Mapping Program in 1996. Bob’s geologic mapping focused on southwestern Utah and along the Wasatch Front, and he has authored or co-authored more than forty 7.5-minute and four 30 x 60-minute geologic maps. Bob’s professional life changed in the late 2000s when he discovered the fabulous and enigmatic geology of Haycock Mountain. He along with colleagues Pete Rowley and David Hacker soon realized that they stood at the toe of one of the world’s largest landslides, naming it the Marysvale gravity slide complex (MGSC). They convened a GSA-sponsored Thompson Field Forum to recruit other specialists, which led to a multi-university, multi-disciplinary NSF-sponsored research effort now in its final year. Bob was UGA Secretary in 2002; UGA Newsletter Editor from 2002 to 2018, and co-editor of UGA’s Publication #43 Geology of Utah’s Far South (2014) and Publication #48 Utah Geosites (2019). He has been a member of the Geological Society of America since 1991 and a GSA Fellow since 1997. After 26 years with the UGS, Bob retired in 2022 but continues to work with colleagues to revise the Beaver and Panguitch 30 x 60-minute geologic maps, with an eye toward incorporating new MGSC discoveries. Named for the first recipient, the late Dr. Lehi F. Hintze of Brigham Young University, the Lehi Hintze Award was established in 2003 by the UGA and UGS to recognize outstanding contributions to the understanding of Utah geology. #utahgeology #lehihintze