Thomas C. Winter, scientist emeritus with USGS, died at his home on Friday, October 8, 2010. Although retired from USGS in 2007, Tom never left his USGS home and continued to actively pursue research on lake and wetland hydrology and groundwater-surface-water exchange. He was a regular presence among his colleagues after retirement and was working in his office as recently as Wednesday. His death was sudden and unexpected; the shock and loss will be felt throughout USGS and the broader hydrogeological and limnological communities.

Tom Winter was born and raised in West St. Paul on the southeastern edge of the Minneapolis St. Paul metropolitan area. After receiving BS and MS degrees in geology at the University of Minnesota in 1958 and 1961, Tom began his career with part-time employment with USGS and the University of Minnesota Limnological Research Center. Tom made considerable contributions to the field of palynology (his first paper on the topic was published in Science) until he found permanent employment with USGS in the St. Paul office.

Tom spent his early career as a hydrologist drilling hundreds of test holes across the state and interpreting the glacial history of Minnesota. After serving as Minnesota assistant district chief, Tom returned to graduate school at the University of Minnesota to study hydrogeology and the effect of groundwater on lake hydrology. Just prior to finishing his PhD, Tom obtained what he considered to be the best possible position with USGS, working as a research hydrologist with the National Research Program. Moving to Denver and the mountains of Colorado was icing on the cake.

Over the next 30 years, Tom’s reputation as a preeminent leader in the field of lake and wetland hydrology, and groundwater-surface-water exchange, was firmly established world-wide. Tom often said the best definition of scientific relevance was when everyone had to read a paper to keep up. Tom lived that definition, as evidenced by the many national and international awards he received during and following his career with USGS, including the Geological Society of America’s Meinzer Award, Society of Wetland Scientists’ Lifetime Achievement Award, National Ground Water Association’s M. King Hubbert Award, and the USGS Superior, Meritorious, and Distinguished Service Awards.

Tom was a fellow of both the Geological Society of America and the Society of Wetland Scientists and a member of the American Geophysical Union and National Ground Water Association. His service to USGS, the hydrogeology and limnology communities, and the Public, will be sorely missed.

Contributed by Don Rosenberry, USGS