I’m Deborah Green, and I’m happy to be named the 2018-2019 Richard H. Jahns Distinguished Lecturer in Applied Geology. The lectureship is supported by the Association ofEnvironmental and Engineering Geologists (AEG) and the Environmental and Engineering Geology Division (EEGD) of the Geological Society of America (GSA). The purpose of the lectureship is to promote student awareness of Applied Geology. It is named for Richard H. Jahns, who was a professor at Caltech from 1946-1960, Pennsylvania State University from 1960-1965, and served as dean of the School of Earth Sciences at Stanford from 1965-1979. At Stanford, he established a new department, Applied Earth Sciences, blending traditional geology studies with applied aspects of the geosciences. Professor Jahns was known for his challenging field courses, his practical inclinations, his superior mapping skills, and his wit. The Jahns Lectureship has been awarded jointly by AEG and GSA annually since 1988. I’m particularly pleased to be the second woman Jahns Lecturer, and I hope we’ll have more in the near future.
Biography
I’ve worked as an environmental and engineering geologist for 34 years in consulting and industry. For more than 20 of those years I’ve been self-employed. I discovered my love for geology as a kid when my earth science teacher father informally taught me all sorts of things about rocks on our summer camping adventures. I earned a B.S. in geology from the University of Rochester and an M.S. in engineering geology from Texas A&M University.
These days, I spend most of my work time writing. I recently completed my first novel, which is loosely based on a period in my late husband’s life when he was the Chief Foundation Geologist for a large dam in East Central Turkey from the late 1960’s to the early 1970’s. On my website, www.geologistwriter.com, you can read essays in which I strive to understand and convey the wonder of the landscape and the complexity of earth processes, while also exploring the terrain of our lives.
Please help me contact interested college and university geology, environmental science, and geological and geotechnical engineering departments and professional groups for any of the presentations listed below:
- Always Book a Window Seat – The Lens Through Which We View the World as Geologists
- You Don’t Look Like a Geologist – A Conversation on Diversity (or the Lack Thereof) in Our Profession
- How to Build a Geology Career You Love
- A Tale of Two Waste Sites
- Let’s Talk – A Conversation on How We Communicate about Science
You can read the presentation abstracts at http://geologistwriter.com/distinguished-lecturer/ and email me at deb@geologistwriter.com to schedule a visit to your school or organization between October 2018 and September 2019. Thank you.