The German Mineralogical Society awards the Abraham Gottlob Werner Silver Medal to Professor Dr. Martin Okrusch in recognition of his extensive research contributions to the field of regional petrology. The crystalline components of continental orogenic belts preserve a wealth of information about the geodynamic stages through which continents and continental fragments have evolved. The petrological and geochemical characterization of igneous rocks, and above all the metamorphic transformation of rocks under a wide range of pressure and temperature conditions, their chronological framework, and the resulting implications for the plate tectonic evolution of the regions under investigation, have been the focus of Professor Okrusch's research.

Professor Okrusch's metamorphic studies have concentrated particularly on the Hellenides, including the Cycladic Blueschist Belt and the metamorphic rocks of the islands of Samos and Crete, the crystalline rocks of the Pan-African Damara Orogen, the Kaoko Belt and the pre-Pan-African basement of Namibia, as well as the crystalline basement regions of central Germany and eastern Bavaria. The results of these investigations have made significant contributions to our understanding of the geological evolution of these regions. Professor Okrusch's scientific work is documented in 198 publications, book chapters, and conference abstracts.