In February 2001 I  began contributing essays to the Hartford Courant’s opinion-commentary section.  This is the state’s capitol-city daily, the oldest continuously published newspaper in the U.S., and the largest paper in the state.  In February 2003, I was invited to join the Courant’s  Board of Contributors to Place, a special commentary section being launched to help solidify the region’s “sense of place.”  Within a year, and after eleven essays, I had become the most frequent contributor.  

Invited Features 

Front Page Features for Sunday Opinion Section

Thorson, Robert M., 2013, Living Sustainably Within Your Watershed: UConn Water Worries (front page opinion on statewide water policy. (on building a pipeline to Storrs). Hartford Courant, January 20, 2013, p. C1.

Thorson, Robert M., 2011, Winds of Change?: Powerful Tornadoes Nothing New — But Frequency, Ferocity in Keeping with a Warmer World. (on the killer tornadoes of June, 2011). Hartford Courant, June 5, 2011, p. C1.

Thorson, Robert M., 2005, New Orleans Can’t Stand in Nature’s Way (on Hurricane Katrina), Hartford Courant, September 4, 2005, p. C1.

Thorson, Robert M., 2002, These Stones Belong to You and Me (on conserving stone walls). The Hartford Courant,  Sunday, December 1, 2002, p. C1.

Other Sunday Opinion

Thorson, Robert M., 2004, Students like Safdie (commentary on architectural plans for science center). Hartford Courant, September 23, 2004, p.A13.

Thorson, Robert M., 2004, Focus on the River (on architectural plans for the Connecticut Science Center).   Hartford Courant, Sunday Sept 12, 2004, p. C7.

Thorson, Robert M., 2003, Monitor Development (on big issues for state development). Hartford Courant, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2003.

Invited Essays 

All were solo-authored.  After being invited and appointed to the Board of Contributors for Place (a special subsection of the Sunday Opinion section), I became their most frequent contributor during its five year run.  In 2003, Place won a national journalism award (see awards).

Thorson, Robert M., 2010, Spring Melt Pulls Veil from Roadside Trash (on melting snow, spring freshets, and the great oceanic garbage swirls). Hartford Courant, March 21, 2010, p.

Thorson, Robert M., 2010, What makes Waterfalls from the Rocks? (on the origin of roadcut-clinging icings) Hartford Courant, February 21, 2010, p. C5 (Place).

Thorson, Robert M., 2009, A State By Geological Consent (on the origin of Connecticut). Hartford Courant, March 22, 2009, p, C5 (Place).

Thorson, Robert M., 2007, Holding Nature in Trust (On the necessity of land trusts) Hartford Courant, May 6, 2007, p. C4 (Place).

Thorson, Robert M., 2006, Red Brick UConn Campus No Place for Metal Monstrosity (on Frank Gehry’s anti-natural architectural proposal). Hartford Courant, November 19, 2006, p. C5 (Place).

Thorson, Robert M., 2006, Rocky Reckoning (on the cultural meaning of three terms: rock, stone, and boulder). Hartford Courant, February 26, 2006, p. C5 (Place).

Thorson, Robert M., 2006, Harvest the Galapagos for Sneakers? (on anti-environmental merchandising).   Hartford Courant, January 1, 2006, p. C5 (Place).

Thorson, Robert M., 2005, A Reverence for Stone: Why Rock Walls Surround the Sacred Ground of New England Cemeteries. Hartford Courant, October 23, 2005, p. C4 (Place).

Thorson, Robert M., 2005, There’s No Place Like Home  (Commentary on Southern New England’s limited exposure to natural hazards). Hartford Courant, April 24, 2005, p. C5 (Place).

Thorson, Robert M., 2004, Natural Landing  (Commentary on The Wright Brother’s 101st aniversary and Bradley Airport), Hartford Courant, December 12, 2004, p. C5 (Place).

Thorson, Robert M., 2004, All that’s left is the name: Without its stone wall, “Fieldstone Commons” is Nothing of the Sort. Hartford Courant, December 19, 2004, p. C6 (Place).

Thorson, Robert M., 2004, Red Sox Nation’s Rock-Solid Foundation (on the unifying force of regional geology).   Hartford Courant, October 31, 2004, p. C5 (Place).

Thorson, Robert M., 2004, Exit Ramp Culture (Connecticut History Part IV; on mall over-development)   Hartford Courant, September 12, 2004, p. C4 (Place).

Thorson, Robert M., 2004, Wetlands on Trial (on the challenge facing town conservation commissions). Hartford Courant, May 2, 2004, p. C4 (Place).

Thorson, Robert M., 2004, Thin Blue Line: A Danger for Drinking Water,  Hartford Courant, April 11, 2004, p. C5 (Place).

Thorson, Robert M., 2004, The Sand Trap,  Hartford Courant, January 18, 2004, p. C4 (Place).

Thorson, Robert M., 2003, Losing Ground (Connecticut History part III, on postglacial soils and their conversion) Hartford Courant, November 9, 2003, p. C5 (Place).

Thorson, Robert M., 2003, Jailhouse Rock: The Symbol of Pilgrim Freedom Shouldn’t be Behind Bars (On Plymoth Rock). Hartford Courant, September 23, 2003, p. C4 (Place).

Thorson, Robert M., 2003, Connecticut’s Glacial Gifts (Connecticut History, part II, on glacial geology).   Hartford Courant, Sunday, August 31, 2003, p. C4 (Place).

Thorson, Robert M., 2003, The Tides of Time; No Longer a Commodity, Whales are Still Precious (on whale beachings and community response).   Hartford Courant, Sunday, August 24, 2003, p. C5 (Place).

Thorson, Robert M., 2003, Cheshire’s Dark Underworld (on abandoned mining landscapes). Hartford Courant, Sunday, July 13, 2003, p. C3 (Place).

Thorson, Robert M., 2003, Cat Tales: Tracking the Elusive Evidence of Cougars in Connecticut.  Hartford Courant Sunday, June 15, 2003, p. C5 (Place).

Thorson, Robert M., 2003, Making Connecticut, the Primal State of Architecture (Connecticut History, Part I, Bedrock Geology) Hartford Courant, June 8, 2003, p. C4 (Place).

Thorson, Robert M., 2003, Riverfront Reconsidered (on Hartford’s Riverside threat by flooding).   Hartford Courant, Sunday, March 9, 2003, p. C5 (Place).

Early Freelanced  

Thorson, Robert M., 2002, Diamonds are Forever–Unfortunately (on converting dead bodies of pets into keepsake diamonds).  Hartford Courant, Sunday, Sept 1, 2002.

Thorson, Robert M., 2002, Yucca Mountain is not Yuck a Mountain (on Nuclear Waste Disposal).   Hartford Courant, August, 2002.

Thorson, Robert M., 2001, A detective discovers our shifting sands (on winter sanding and mining of aquifers).  Hartford Courant, Monday Feb. 12, p. A11.