We just learned that Karen Bolm, with the USGS here in Tucson, died Saturday, six weeks after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of liver cancer.
Karen was well known as being the face of the USGS across the region for her outreach work and as a tireless volunteer for the Arizona Geological Society.
She got her A.B. in Spanish from Augustana College, in Illinois in 1967 and joined the U.S. Geological Survey's Public Inquiries Office in Anchorage, Alaska, in 1975. She moved to Tucson, Arizona in 1987 and the next year joined the Minerals Information Office in Tucson where she gathered and disseminated Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) records, answered minerals-related questions, and worked with Center for Inter-American Mineral Resource Investigations scientists to gather data from and to install MRDS in Latin American countries. [this is taken in part from Karen's bio on the USGS website]
Update: The Memorial Service for Karen will be held at the Holy Cross Lutheran Church at 241 N. Harrison at 11 a.m. on Saturday, April 11th. The church is on Harrison about 2.5 blocks north of Broadway.