Vincent recognized for community involvement

BOWLING GREEN, O.—He’s recognized as one of Bowling Green State University’s most productive scholars, but Dr. Robert Vincent, a professor of geology,  is equally active in the Bowling Green community. Vincent’s service was recognized on March 22 when he received the Community Involvement Award during BGSU’s Faculty Recognition Dinner.

An internationally recognized expert in the field of remote sensing, Vincent combined his expertise and involvement with the Bowling Green Rotary Club to create the Global Satellite Water Finding Office. The organization uses remote sensing technology to find high quality water supplies in undeveloped nations.

 “With the help of Rotary, Bob traveled to Tanzania to assess the situation and study the geology,” explained Dr. Charles Onasch, a professor and director of the School of Earth, Environment and Society, in his nomination letter.  “This, along with input from satellite images, allowed Bob to recommend several sites to drill new wells.

This first one drilled proved to be a prolific water-producer, which greatly solved the village’s problem. Without the help of Bob’s organization, the native people could never have achieved such a goal. This experience also provided a great case study for his class and helped convey the importance of reaching out to the community.”

Vincent is also working with a local bishop in Tanzania to bring a promising student to BGSU’s Department of Geology, with the hope that the student will be able to return to his country to find water. Vincent is trying to coordinate with the Rotary and BGSU to arrange funding of the student’s education.

Among his other interests, Vincent is an active member of his church, and the Junto Club and is a board member of Behavioral Connections. At BGSU, he has been awarded several million dollars in external funding and has secured patents and created start-up companies. “Not only does he serve the community unselfishly, but is responsible for major advances in his professional field,” Onasch said.

Vincent has bachelor’s degrees in physics and mathematics from Louisiana Tech University, a master’s degree in physics from the University of Maryland and a Ph.D. in geology from the University of Michigan. He joined the faculty at BGSU in 1993.               

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(Posted March 23, 2011 )