John Beaver Mertie Jr.

John Beaver Mertie Jr. (January 22, 1888 – December 7, 1980) was a geologist for the USGS and a professor at Johns Hopkins University. He spent 30 years mapping Alaska in the early 1900s, so much so that a mountain range was named in his honour in 1986: the Mertie Mountains located in the Yukon–Charley Rivers National Preserve. The mountains extend 187 kilometres (116 mi) by 176 kilometres (109 mi), from the Tanana River to the Yukon River; the United States Board on Geographic Names' dedication to Mertie read he "did pioneering geologic studies in Alaska for over 40 years, with a major portion of the studies pertaining to the area of these mountains".