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Israel Cook Russell, LL.D. (December 10, 1852 – May 1, 1906) was an American geologist and geographer known for his seminal work on paleolakes of the Great Basin and exploration of Alaska in the late 19th century. "ROCK STARS: Israel Cook Russell (1852-1906)" GSA Today, pp 14-15, February 2009
In 1880, he became a member of the United States Geological Survey (USGS). Between 1881 and 1885 he worked at Mono Lake in east-central California. Originally employed in support of surveys for construction of the Bodie Railway connecting the Lake with Bodie, he stayed for four years making field observations that culminated in publication of The Quaternary History of Mono Valley, California (1889).John Hart: Storm over Mono: The Mono Lake Battle and the California Water Future. University of California Press, Berkeley 1996, , pp 27/28 ( online at the University of California Press E-Books Collection) Russell's investigations of pluvial stages of Lake Lahontan Russell, I.C., 1885, Geological history of Lake Lahontan, a Quaternary lake in northwestern Nevada: U.S. Geological Survey Monograph 11. and Mono LakeRussell, I.C., 1889, The Quaternary history of Mono Valley, California: U.S. Geological Survey Annual Report 8, p. 267–438 (later named pluvial "Lake Russell" in recognition of his work) combined evidence from observations of shoreline deposits, sediments preserved in outcrop, terraces, and moraines to infer lake basin history and may be considered to be the first limnogeological studies. He represented the USGS in 1889 in an expedition sent to Alaska by the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey to establish a portion of Alaska's eastern boundary. During the next two years, he explored, under the joint auspices of the USGS and the National Geographic Society, the slopes of Mount Saint Elias and the Yakutat Bay area. In 1890 he made the first reported sighting of Mount Logan, the highest mountain in Canada, and gave the mountain its name.
In 1892 he became professor of geology at the University of Michigan. At the time of his death, he was President of the Geological Society of America.Fairchild, Herman LeRoy, 1932, The Geological Society of America 1888-1930, a Chapter in Earth Science History: New York, The Geological Society of America, 232 p.Eckel, Edwin, 1982, GSA Memoir 155, The Geological Society of America — Life History of a Learned Society: Boulder, Colorado, Geological Society of America Memoir 155, 168 p., .
In May 1902, Russell was one of a party of scientists who travelled on the USS Dixie to document the eruptions of La Soufriere, St Vincent and Mont Pelee, Martinique. Russell was sent by the National Geographic Society along with Robert T. Hill and Carsten Borchgrevink.
The Limnogeology Division of the Geological Society of America annually gives the Israel C. Russell Award to outstanding geoscientists in recognition of major achievements in limnogeology through contributions in research, teaching, and service.
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