Earth Science: Understanding Environmental Systems
Edgar W. Spencer,
Washington and Lee University
ISBN: 0072341467 Copyright year: 2002
About the Author
Experiences from childhood kindled my interest in nature and eventually led to my career in earth science. I grew up in a small town in southeastern Arkansas and have clear memories of frightening hours watching violent electrical storms during summer months, visiting neighboring towns destroyed by tornadoes, listening to stories about the famous 1927 flood on the Mississippi River, spending many nights camping out as a boy scout, fishing on oxbow lakes, and taking float trips down local streams. On a trip west I was amazed to see the Rocky Mountains rise out of the Great Plains. When I went to college at Washington and Lee University I knew I wanted to take a course in geology. During that first exposure to the science of the earth I discovered the scope, application, and fascination of studying Earth science. As a senior I was a field assistant to Dr. Marcellus Stow who was helping prospectors evaluate uranium properties in Montana. We made the Yellowstone Bighorn Research Association camp at Red Lodge our base of operation. There I was introduced to the variety of research interests and the enthusiasm of geologists from many universities had for what they were doing. Later I would get to know the YBRA camp well as I studied the structure of the Beartooth Mountains while a graduate student at Columbia University.
During my years at Columbia I spent a summer on one of the early transatlantic voyages of the R/V Vema. Collecting cores, underwater photographs, making seismic refraction surveys and continuous depth recordings provided a hands on introduction to oceanography. After graduation I accepted an invitation to join the Washington and Lee faculty. My earlier research continued in Montana, but it gradually shifted to the Central Appalachian Mountains. I've never tired of field work in beautiful areas like the Beartooth Mountains and the Blue Ridge, trying to resolve challenging structural and stratigraphic problems, and making interpretations of complex data. Sabbatical leaves in New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland, Scandinavia, Great Britain, and Greece have provided wonderful opportunities to study geology in many parts of the world. I have especially enjoyed working with students in the field, and in the 1970s developed an introductory course in geology that is taught in the field as much as possible. This is followed by field mapping courses which have traveled to the Colorado Plateau in alternate years.
While a graduate student I taught at Hunter College and complained to my apartment mate, about the quality of the textbooks. A few years later as an editor at T.Y.Crowell he urged me to write a book. I found gathering information about a broad range of subjects and looking for new ways to organize and express that information both interesting and enjoyable. Over the years I have written a number of books including ones on earth science, structural geology, and most recently geologic map interpretation.
Field work in parts of Montana and Virginia that were later designated as wilderness areas is partially responsible for my interest in conservation and the use of geological information in land use and regional planning. In 1975 I joined a group of individuals who shared an interest in planning formed a local conservation council. We have worked with other organizations and local governments to promote conservation in our community. This has been a rewarding experience and focused my attention on many of the topics discussed in this book.
Note: Spencer was head of the Washington & Lee geology department for over thirty-five years, and was named the Ruth Parmly Professor. He is an honorary member of Phi Beta Kappa and the national leadership fraternity Omicron Delta Kappa. In 1991, he received an Outstanding Faculty Award from the Virginia Council of Higher Education.
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2002 McGraw-Hill Higher Education