Category: International geology

Duffield, Wendell

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Now a pink-cheeked septuagenarian, at a much younger age I earned a BA in geology at Carleton College (1963), MS and PhD degrees in geology at Stanford University (1965, 1967), and then landed a job with the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) to study volcanoes and geothermal energy at home and abroad. My USGS years included a three-year stint as a staff volcanologist at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory; a north Atlantic sea-floor drilling cruise on the Glomar Challenger (Leg 49); a year working with volcano/geothermal colleagues at the French Geological Survey (BRGM, Orleans); a geothermal summer with the Icelandic Energy Authority in Reykjavik; several volcano/geothermal projects in Central America; field mapping and related studies of volcanic fields in northeastern California, at Coso in southeastern California, and in the Mogollon-Datil volcanic field of southwestern New Mexico. I also participated in USGS responses to the violent eruptions at Mount St. Helens in 1980, El Chichon (Mexico) in 1982, and Mount Pinatubo (Philippines) in 1991.

I retired from the USGS at Flagstaff, Arizona, in 1997, and moved across town to become an Adjunct Professor of Geology at Northern Arizona University. I continue a bit of volcano research, and write essays and books for a broad general readership. My closest professional colleagues at NAU are Nancy Riggs and Michael Ort, two of the worlds most ardent volcano lovers.

In Dec. 2013, Duff told a captivated QGS audience about his “Geologic Adventures at Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii.” (Updated Oct. 2021)

Heiken, Grant

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After completing his Ph.D. at the University of California in Santa Barbara in 1972, Grant Heiken (heiken@whidbey.com) worked for NASA’s Apollo Program as a geology instructor and as a researcher on lunar surface processes. In 1975, he and his wife moved to the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory in New Mexico, where he worked on geothermal exploration and development, volcanic hazard analysis, the uses of volcanic rocks, basic research on explosive volcanism, continental scientific drilling, and integrated urban science. He has co-written or edited 11 books. He retired in 2003 and moved to Freeland on Whidbey Island, Washington, with his wife Jody, who is a scientific editor. Grant volunteers for several service organizations, is on the board of the Whidbey-Camano Land Trust and is on the Island County water-resources advisory committee.

Grant’s March 2014 talk was based on his 2005 book “The Seven Hills of Rome—A Geological Tour of the Eternal City” (G. Heiken, R. Funiciello, R., and D. De Rita, Princeton University Press, Princeton, 288 p). (Updated 2021)

 

Wallace, Terry

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Terry C. Wallace Jr. was raised in Los Alamos, New Mexico, and graduated from Los Alamos High School in 1974. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in geophysics and mathematics from New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, followed by a Master of Science and PhD in geophysics from the California Institute of Technology.

From 1983 to 2003, he was a professor at the University of Arizona. In 2006 Terry heard the call home and moved back to Los Alamos to become LANL’s Principal Associate Director for Science, Technology, and Engineering, then Principal Associate Director for Global Security. He served as the 11th Director of Los Alamos National Laboratory until his retirement in 2018.

In his off time, Terry is a marathon-style wilderness runner and avid hiker.  He is a mineral collector, a hobby fostered by his father from an early age. Terry has visited mining communities and mineral localities across the Americas, and has written extensively on various aspects of mineralogy for amateurs. He is the author of the popular mineral book Collecting Arizona. As you can suspect, Gold is one of his favorite minerals.

In Oct. 2020, Terry made an invaluable presentation on “Gold—A Journey from the Big Bang to the Amazon.”  (Updated Oct. 2021)