As a kid growing up in the Pacific Northwest, Rob Wesson became fascinated by mountains and glaciers. This interest led to a BS in earth science from MIT, and an M.Sc. and Ph.D. in geophysics from Stanford University. His career in earthquake research with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) spans four decades, where he is currently a Scientist Emeritus. In retirement, his research has turned to Chile where he is collaborating with a team exploring large earthquakes, tsunamis, and associated tectonic questions. This work has been supported in part by grants from the National Science Foundation. When not traveling to South America or elsewhere, Rob divides his time between his home in Evergreen, Colorado, and the rustic cabin he built near McCarthy, Alaska.

Rob first became interested in Darwin and his geology through reading The Voyage of the Beagle on a vacation trip to Patagonia. He became captivated by Darwin’s prodigious powers of observation and his insatiable need to understand and explain. Whatever rock, fossil, landscape, rodent, bird, or beetle that he found, he wanted to tell its story.

In Oct. 2017, Rob Wesson presented a lecture on “Darwin’s first theory” (sic. geology). (Update Oct. 2021)

John Pallister is a recently retired Senior Reseach Geologist at the U.S. Geological Survey in Vancouver, WA.  John has a long, varied and distinguished career, most recently as coordinator for the USGS’s VDAP program. VDAP is the Volcanic Disaster Assistance Program, an international project to monitor volcanic eruptions around the world. John spoke to the QGS at the Port Townsend Aero Museum in Sept. 2018 on “Volcanic hazards to aircraft and the VDAP.  (Updated Oct. 2021)