University of Maine scientist George Denton received one of the nation’s highest honors in his field last week with his election to the National Academy of Sciences. As the first-ever UMaine faculty member to join this elite group, he adds to a distinguished career in geological sciences. And while the distinction goes to Dr. Denton, the honor also should be felt by his colleagues in the university’s Quaternary Institute, his many students and all members of the university.

The professor joins a group of fewer than 2,000 scientists in NAS, whose work is, if not the final word, usually the most authoritative on many controversial issues. Founded in the midst of the Civil War, one of its first assignments was to find ways for the Navy to protect the bottoms of its new iron-hulled ships from corrosion. It was most recently in the news for its report that warned of the difficulties of manned missions to Mars. Professor Denton’s research on glaciers and global climate change may prove to be more important and more controversial.

His climate-change work gained increasing popular attention as the subject itself became front-page news over the last dozen years. It will be watched even more closely as it focuses more on the latest theory that, instead of the planet gradually growing warmer, large temperature swings occurred over only a few years. The Senate recently passed funding that would allow for a significant expansion of this investigation.

The Institute on Quaternary and Climate Studies no doubt will be at the forefront of this research, making valuable contributions to the field of knowledge and, not incidentally, adding to the university’s stature as a place for top-notch research. The institute already is well-regarded among colleagues nationally and internationally. With the election of George Denton to the academy, it gains further while one of its members receives the recognition he thoroughly deserves.