Academic and Professional Appointments

A Chippewa Family in the St. Croix Area
“A Chippewa Family in the St. Croix Area, by Sanford C. Sargent, 1885. Minnesota Historical Society. from my book “Beyond Walden.”

University of Connecticut Academic Appointments

2019-present     Professor of Earth Sciences – Department of Earth Sciences.  Formerly Professor of Geosciences in Department of Earth Sciences.

2025-present   Faculty Affiliate – Institute of Environment and Energy.

2019-2021         Head (Interim)  – Department of Geosciences (19-month transition, December 15, 2019-August 23 2021, from Center for Integrative Geosciences to the Department of Geosciences. Most administrative procedures from the Bylaws upward were new.

2005-2019        Professor of Geology – Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and Department of Anthropology. and Center for Integrative Geosciences, UConn.  

Henry Thoreau didn’t need a street address. He obsessed with quantification. Literally back of envelope calculations.

2005-present    Core Faculty – Center for Integrative Geoscience, UConn..

2004-present    Honors Fellow – Honors Program Core Curriculum, UConn. 

2010-present     Faculty Affiliate – American Studies Program, UConn.  

1996-2004         Professor of Geology and Geophysics – Department of Geology & Geophysics, jointly with Department of Anthropology, UConn.

1990-1996          Associate Professor of Geology and Geophysics – Department of Geology and Geophysics, jointly with Department of Anthropology, UConn.

1987-1995          Associate Professor of Geology and Geophysics – Department of Geology and Geophysics, UConn.

1984-1987          Assistant Professor of Geology and Geophysics – Department of Geology and Geophysics, UConn.

stone closeups
Specimen Stones of the Pavilion. Panel of closeups. Granite (CO), Sandstone (TN), Serpentenite (MD), Basalt (CA), Fossils (KY), Petrified Wood (AZ).

Visiting Academic Appointments

I greatly appreciate the courtesy of programs that have provided me with these visiting faculty appointments.

2012-2013     Affiliate Scholar, American Studies, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

1998-1999     Profesor Visitante, Departamento de Obras Civiles, Universidad Tecnica Santa Maria, Valparasio, Chile.

1998-1999     Senior Fulbright Scholar, Servicio Nacional de Geologia e Mineria, Santiago, Chile

1991-1992     Visiting Scholar, Department of Geography, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH

1990-1991      Visiting Faculty Fellow, Department of History, Yale University,New Haven, CT

Odd stone in a wall
Weathering:  Rust, sulfate, and sulfuric acid from pyrrhotite schist (Bigeolow Brook Formation) is painting a gray granite a beautiful color..

Early Academic Appointments

1983-1986     Research Affiliate in Earth Surface Processes – Museum of the North (University of Alaska Museum), University of Alaska-Fairbanks.

1982-1984     Program Head, Surficial Geology – Museum of the North (University of Alaska Museum), University of Alaska-Fairbanks.

1982-1984     Director (Founding) – Alaska Quaternary Center, University of Alaska-Fairbanks.

1980-1984     Assistant Professor – Department of Geology & Geophysics, University of Alaska-Fairbanks.

1979-1980    Assistant Professor – Department of Geology, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

1973-1975    Teaching Assistant – Department of Geology & Geophysics, University of Alaska-Fairbanks .

Professional Appointments

2004-2018:        Op-Ed Columnist, Hartford Courant. A weekly and bi-weekly Thursday column emphasizing Earth, environment, education.

2002-2003:       Board of Contributors to “Place,” a nationally award-winning, special Sunday commentary section to The Hartford Courant.

1979-1981           Geologist (GS-13), U.S. Geological Survey, Branch of Western Environmental Geology, Menlo Park, CA.  WAE status–when actually employed), part-time.

1978-1979           Research Associate, U.S. National Park Service, Assigned from USGS to NPS, co-employed by National Geographic Society, Denali National Park, AK.

1976-1979           Geologist (GS-13), U.S. Geological Survey, Puget Sound Earth Sciences Applications Project, Seattle, WA.

1975-1976           Geological Assistant, U. S. Geological Survey, Arctic Environmental Project, Branch of Alaskan Geology, Menlo Park, CA

1975                     Field Assistant, U.S. Geological Survey, Arctic Environmental Project, Branch of Alaskan Geology, Fairbanks, AK.

1975                     Field Assistant, U.S. Geol. Survey, Earthquake Hazards Project, Branch of Western Environmental Geology, Juneau, AK