February 13, 2019
Down to Earth With: Paleoanthropologist and underground astronaut Lindsay Hunter
In 2013, Lindsay Hunter found herself at a personal and professional crossroads. She had gone through a divorce, left the paleoanthropology …
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Down to Earth With
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114 articles · Page 1 of 5
December 21, 2018
Down to Earth With: Clay mineralogist Warren Huff
Two distinct images come to mind when I think of Warren Huff, my former doctoral adviser: one in which he is enthusiastically teaching and …
November 8, 2018
Down to Earth With: Coastal scientist Gary Griggs
Maybe it was the summer camping trips with his family along the Pacific coast, or perhaps surfing off Santa Barbara, Calif., during college, but …
October 12, 2018
Down to Earth With: Geologist Robert Brinkmann
As a child, Robert Brinkmann was always curious about rocks. He wondered how they got where they were and why they were different from each …
August 31, 2018
Down to Earth With: Volcanologist Thorvaldur Thordarson
Despite growing up in Iceland, with Earth’s most volcanically active landscape as his playground, Thorvaldur Thordarson had no idea he would grow …
August 3, 2018
Down to Earth With: Volcanologist Scott Rowland
Hawaii seems like an ideal place to nurture a budding volcanologist. Kilauea, on the Big Island, is one of the world’s most active volcanoes. And …
July 3, 2018
Down to Earth With: Paleobiologist Rowan Lockwood
In 1608, Captain John Smith noted that oysters “lay as thick as stones” on the floor of the Chesapeake Bay. The shell reefs — built up by …
May 23, 2018
Down to Earth With: John 'Jack' Reed Jr.
Geologist Jack Reed spent his career studying rocks the most strenuous way someone can — by climbing them. During much of his 47 years with the …
May 23, 2018
Down to Earth With: Maurice J. 'Ric' Terman
A general wants to advance his army of tanks, but doesn’t know if the terrain he plans to cross will allow it. Tanks can’t go up steep slopes, …
May 23, 2018
Down to Earth With: John Copeland
Movie effects have come a long way since the close-shot model explosions that made “Star Wars” a hit, and science documentaries are no exception, …
May 23, 2018
Down to Earth With: New congressional science fellows
Last month, a new Congress and president came to Washington, D.C. And with them came new staff, including five geoscience congressional science …
May 23, 2018
Down to Earth With: Jack Horner
As one of the world’s most successful dinosaur hunters and a leader in the field of dinosaur growth and development, Jack Horner needs little …
May 23, 2018
Down to Earth With: Ted Irving
Geoscience students today may take plate tectonics for granted, but the concept that Earth has a mobile crust has only been generally accepted …
May 23, 2018
Down to Earth With: Peter Brewer
Whether through deep-sea gas hydrate experiments, lasers or asphyxiating squid, Peter Brewer is always seeking new ways to understand the …
May 23, 2018
Down to Earth With: Jessica Whiteside
From Morocco to Connecticut, Jessica Whiteside has explored almost every Mesozoic rock outcrop there is. And she’s only three years out of …
May 23, 2018
Down to Earth With: Buzz Aldrin
On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong made history when they landed and walked on the moon. The voyage left a …
May 23, 2018
Down to Earth With: Matt Kondolf
As a fluvial geomorphologist teaching in the Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning Department at the University of California at …
May 23, 2018
Down to Earth With: Mike Gallagher
Mike Gallagher is not your typical science educator. After spending three years as a researcher and field geologist with the U.S. Geological …
May 23, 2018
Down to Earth With: Sharon Mosher
Sharon Mosher was born with a rock in her hand, as her mom used to say. As a child in Illinois, she was fascinated by geology, conducting mineral …
May 22, 2018
Down to Earth With: Andrew Feustel
Feustel’s academic career has taken several interesting turns, which sometimes brought him close to spaceflight — but never quite there, at least …
May 22, 2018
Down to Earth With: Todd Hoefen
On any given day, you might find Todd Hoefen studying the material properties of other planets, building remote sensing applications, sampling …
May 22, 2018
Down to Earth With: Katerina Dontsova
Soil scientist Katerina Dontsova didn’t imagine she would be working at one of the nation’s most famous laboratories when she arrived at Purdue …
May 22, 2018
Down to Earth With: Nick Brooks
More than 6,000 years ago, the world’s most famous desert was no desert at all. A wet, grassy landscape, the Sahara supported populations of …
May 22, 2018
Down to Earth With: Jeffrey Post
The gems and minerals exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., has more than 3,000 …