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Image courtesy of Kate Pound.
Kate Pound
I am a geologist, and I teach Geology and Science Education at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota. My favorite course to teach is field geology - that is probably because hiking and enjoying the outdoors are some my favorite activities, along with trying to interpret the 'stories' that rocks and sediments are telling us. I also teach a field geology course called TIMES (Teaching Inquiry-based Minnesota Earth Science) for Teachers through Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota. I've also taught at the University of St. Thomas, and at the Minneapolis Campus of the Fond-du-Lac Tribal and Community College, and for a while I was the 'Geologist in Residence' at the Children's Museum of Minnesota for the "Miss Frizzle Inside the Earth" exhibit. I also spent two years working at the Minnesota Geological Survey when I first moved to Minnesota.
Geologists like to "get out in the field" a lot. In my early days (after I had finished my Bachelor's degree at Middlebury College) I worked as a field assistant in California, Baja, and Alaska. After completing my Ph.D. in paleozoic rocks in the northwest part of the Southern Alps in New Zealand, I worked in the Broken Hill and Mt. Isa regions in Australia. Now I get to go to Antarctica with the ANDRILL Project - I am excited! As I prepare for this adventure I have been presenting to Elementary and Middle Schools – the teachers and kids are all excited to learn about Antarctica with me, and follow my adventures 'On the Ice.'
When I am not preparing for class or outdoors, I try to get to Twins games with my son Ben, to the theater with my son Josh, or play scrabble with them. When I first moved to Minnesota from Australia I got a ticket for not shoveling the snow off the sidewalk soon enough - oops! I hope my family shovels the sidewalk while I am away in Antarctica!
