John Cotton Scholarship
The John Cotton Scholarship will be available to New Hampshire students studying
earth sciences and students studying earth sciences at New Hampshire universities and colleges. Priority will be given to students whose study/research aligns with John career interests of “boots on the ground” groundwater resource mapping and New Hampshire surficial and bedrock mapping. Scholarships are anticipated to be awarded in the amounts ranging from $3,000-$5,000, depending on the total amount raised. The funds will also be available to support ongoing surficial and bedrock geology mapping in New Hampshire.
Interested applicants should complete a fund application form and mail it to the address below.
APPLICATION FORM COMING SOON.
Applications will be considered as they are received, and should be sent to:
Geological Society of New Hampshire
John Cotton Scholarship
P.O. Box 401
Concord, NH 03302
earth sciences and students studying earth sciences at New Hampshire universities and colleges. Priority will be given to students whose study/research aligns with John career interests of “boots on the ground” groundwater resource mapping and New Hampshire surficial and bedrock mapping. Scholarships are anticipated to be awarded in the amounts ranging from $3,000-$5,000, depending on the total amount raised. The funds will also be available to support ongoing surficial and bedrock geology mapping in New Hampshire.
Interested applicants should complete a fund application form and mail it to the address below.
APPLICATION FORM COMING SOON.
Applications will be considered as they are received, and should be sent to:
Geological Society of New Hampshire
John Cotton Scholarship
P.O. Box 401
Concord, NH 03302
Donations
GSNH is accepting donations for the John Cotton Scholarship Fund. We have four levels of donation, matching important rock types in New Hampshire:
Conway Granite: $2,500 and up
Concord Granite: $1,000 - $2,499
Kinsman Quartz Monzonite/Diorite: $500 - $999
Massabesic Gneiss: $100 - $499
Donations may be mailed to the:
Geological Society New Hampshire
P.O. Box 401
Concord, NH 03302.
Checks should be made out to the Geological Society of NH with the subject line “John Cotton Geology Legacy Fund”. GSNH is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and donations are tax deductible.
Conway Granite: $2,500 and up
Concord Granite: $1,000 - $2,499
Kinsman Quartz Monzonite/Diorite: $500 - $999
Massabesic Gneiss: $100 - $499
Donations may be mailed to the:
Geological Society New Hampshire
P.O. Box 401
Concord, NH 03302.
Checks should be made out to the Geological Society of NH with the subject line “John Cotton Geology Legacy Fund”. GSNH is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and donations are tax deductible.
John Cotton
An Appreciation
The Geological Society of New Hampshire (GSNH) is honoring John Cotton’s many contributions to the profession of geology by establishing a scholarship for a geosciences student at a New Hampshire college or university. We are soliciting donations for the scholarship fund which will allow students to enthusiastically pursue their own interests in geology, perhaps following in the footsteps of John Cotton.
John Cotton was born and raised in Laconia, New Hampshire. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Dartmouth College and received a master’s degree from Yale University. While at Dartmouth, he spent a summer in Greenland assisting Linc Washburn in surficial mapping along the exposed eastern coast. At Yale he studied under Richard Foster Flint who was mapping glacial deposits in Connecticut. John joined the United States Geological Survey (USGS) where he mapped bedrock in Montana with Bill Pecora who later became the director of the USGS. He then joined the water resources division of the USGS in Boston. He mapped groundwater levels of the Boston peninsula using well data and his own measurements in existing undocumented wells to determine the depth to bedrock. He also oversaw the drilling of the first wells for the newly established Cape Cod National Seashore.
John’s heart was in New Hampshire and he wanted to return. He presented a water resources management plan to the legislature that started the stratified drift aquifer program with money to do one season of reconnaissance aquifer mapping by watershed for the entire state, funded by the NH Water Resources Board and the USGS. These maps became known as the Cotton Maps and were cited as such in state statutes. Next, he lobbied for more detailed quadrangle mapping and drilling wells in the stratified drift in cooperation with the USGS. These aquifer maps were further refined with material logs from drillers and notes on strata depths, as well as commentaries specific to municipalities on groundwater recharge, transmissivity, discharge, and quality. John also lobbied for similar detailed bedrock mapping by quadrangle. In 1994, the director of the USGS, Gordon Eaton, presented John with a Superior Performance Award in recognition for his outstanding contributions to the water resources program.
The United States Army Corps of Engineers tapped John to write a groundwater section as part of a multi-volume comprehensive study on the Merrimack River. The New England Water Works Association bestowed upon him the David M. Erickson Groundwater Award for teaching a groundwater course for well drillers.
John retired from the USGS but was talked out of retirement to work for the Solid Waste Management Bureau of the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (NHDES). He was primarily involved with waste management in landfills. He also advised the USDA Forest Service Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest on monitoring the watershed for acid rain. Later, as a volunteer, he mapped surficial materials and landforms in several quadrangles around Andover, New Hampshire and resolved edge-matching contacts for previously mapped quadrangles before they were digitized and combined to create the state surficial map. He was a mentor to many geologists and hydrologists over the years.
John took part in the Partners for the Americas where New Hampshire was paired with a state in Brazil. While in Brazil he trained geologists in geophysical techniques and fracture-trace analysis for groundwater exploration and well development in drought-stricken areas. He was also an organizer and participant in a water resources symposium for which the Partners honored him with a Special Projects Award.
For many years John was Andover’s representative and on the executive council of the Lakes Region Planning Commission. He was known as Mr. Geology there and as Mr. Groundwater of New Hampshire when he was interacting with the public before retirement. The Commission honored him by renaming the Kim Ayers award the Ayers-Cotton Environmental Service Award for persistently working to maintain and improve the environmental quality of the Lakes Region.
John was an original member of the GSNH board of directors. He then worked diligently for state licensing of various geologic fields to protect citizens from fraudulent drillers and water dowsers. John held the second Professional Geologist license issued by the State of New Hampshire.
He died of Parkinson’s disease on December 28, 2023.
John Cotton was born and raised in Laconia, New Hampshire. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Dartmouth College and received a master’s degree from Yale University. While at Dartmouth, he spent a summer in Greenland assisting Linc Washburn in surficial mapping along the exposed eastern coast. At Yale he studied under Richard Foster Flint who was mapping glacial deposits in Connecticut. John joined the United States Geological Survey (USGS) where he mapped bedrock in Montana with Bill Pecora who later became the director of the USGS. He then joined the water resources division of the USGS in Boston. He mapped groundwater levels of the Boston peninsula using well data and his own measurements in existing undocumented wells to determine the depth to bedrock. He also oversaw the drilling of the first wells for the newly established Cape Cod National Seashore.
John’s heart was in New Hampshire and he wanted to return. He presented a water resources management plan to the legislature that started the stratified drift aquifer program with money to do one season of reconnaissance aquifer mapping by watershed for the entire state, funded by the NH Water Resources Board and the USGS. These maps became known as the Cotton Maps and were cited as such in state statutes. Next, he lobbied for more detailed quadrangle mapping and drilling wells in the stratified drift in cooperation with the USGS. These aquifer maps were further refined with material logs from drillers and notes on strata depths, as well as commentaries specific to municipalities on groundwater recharge, transmissivity, discharge, and quality. John also lobbied for similar detailed bedrock mapping by quadrangle. In 1994, the director of the USGS, Gordon Eaton, presented John with a Superior Performance Award in recognition for his outstanding contributions to the water resources program.
The United States Army Corps of Engineers tapped John to write a groundwater section as part of a multi-volume comprehensive study on the Merrimack River. The New England Water Works Association bestowed upon him the David M. Erickson Groundwater Award for teaching a groundwater course for well drillers.
John retired from the USGS but was talked out of retirement to work for the Solid Waste Management Bureau of the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (NHDES). He was primarily involved with waste management in landfills. He also advised the USDA Forest Service Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest on monitoring the watershed for acid rain. Later, as a volunteer, he mapped surficial materials and landforms in several quadrangles around Andover, New Hampshire and resolved edge-matching contacts for previously mapped quadrangles before they were digitized and combined to create the state surficial map. He was a mentor to many geologists and hydrologists over the years.
John took part in the Partners for the Americas where New Hampshire was paired with a state in Brazil. While in Brazil he trained geologists in geophysical techniques and fracture-trace analysis for groundwater exploration and well development in drought-stricken areas. He was also an organizer and participant in a water resources symposium for which the Partners honored him with a Special Projects Award.
For many years John was Andover’s representative and on the executive council of the Lakes Region Planning Commission. He was known as Mr. Geology there and as Mr. Groundwater of New Hampshire when he was interacting with the public before retirement. The Commission honored him by renaming the Kim Ayers award the Ayers-Cotton Environmental Service Award for persistently working to maintain and improve the environmental quality of the Lakes Region.
John was an original member of the GSNH board of directors. He then worked diligently for state licensing of various geologic fields to protect citizens from fraudulent drillers and water dowsers. John held the second Professional Geologist license issued by the State of New Hampshire.
He died of Parkinson’s disease on December 28, 2023.