The bookends of my life are my 1951 birth as a Scandinavian-American, baby-boomer twin in Edgerton, Wisconsin and my most recent septuagenarian moment, likely in Storrs-Mansfield, CT.  I’m a Midwestern native turned Northwestern  geologist turned Northeastern academic who commutes to work on a woodland trail.  At the University of Connecticut, I profess, write, research, coordinates the Stone Wall Initiative, and work on the Stone Pavilion project in my spare time.

• Biographic Sketch explains my origins and career twists and turns, and was written mainly for talk introductions and media coverage.
• Memoir of Mentorship explains why some professors prioritize teaching as a way of “paying it forward.”
• Curriculum Vitae is the long-form “resume” academics are required to maintain.
• Condensed Vitae is a more accessible short-list of the main points of my professional career.

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Photos:  Author (left) and his deceased twin brother James in 1957, the year we watched Sputnik cross the sky at night.  Here, we’re “messing about in boats” on a kettle lake in northern Minnesota. Reflecting back, I note that I’m not wearing a life jacket.