Focus Speaker Spotlight: Eldridge Moores and the Importance of Earth Science
Eldridge Moores is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Davis, where he has been a faculty member since 1966. His research has involved the tectonics of ophiolites in the Alpine-Himalayan and Western US Cordilleran mountain systems and has involved field work in about 30 countries.
For several decades, Moores has been working on raising general awareness of Earth Science. In particular, he has been working during the past decade to improve the status of Earth and Space Sciences instruction in California secondary schools. Moores holds that the field of Earth and Space Sciences has gone through two revolutions in the past fifty years. The first was the plate tectonic revolution, which lead to new insights into the nature of the Earth and natural processes active on and in it. The second was the planetary revolution, occasioned by exploration of neighboring planets and of their compositions and histories in comparison to that of the Earth. The products of these revolutions are exciting, integrate multiple science disciplines, and can an ideal way to get students interested in science.
Moores believes that from the perspective of future generations, the 21st century will probably defined by the issues of climate change, water availability, earth hazards, and energy resources. Clearly, all of these deeply involve Earth science and many important political, legal, and ethical decisions are currently being made that stand to affect the lives of all people. The need for general Earth science knowledge is crucial, Moores believes, and is especially acute in California with its increasing population, many Earth hazards, and water and energy issues. All California citizens need an understanding of Earth science and California geology in order to make informed decisions about Earth problems that will affect their own lives and those of their children and grandchildren.
Over the years has taught many specialist and general interest courses, has mentored some 45 graduate students, and is the author or co-author of over 120 publications and books on both technical and general-interest themes. He has received many awards, including the first ever Geological Association of Canada Medal in 1994, the Distinguished Scholarly Public Service Award of the University of California, Davis in 2002-2003, the GSA Distinguished Service Award in 1988 and the GSA International Division Career Contribution in 2005. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and of the Geological Society of America (GSA). He is relatively fluent, if rusty, in Modern Greek, French, and German, and can survive in Spanish and Italian.
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http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu/whatsnew/NaturalDiscourse/artists.shtml
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Peter A’Hearn: Rush hour in little blue circle land.
Full image:
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