While attending the International Geological Congress (IGC) in Brisbane in early August, I and my partner Aretha and son Micah stayed at my good friend and colleague Joan Esterle’s house. Joan is a professor at University of Queensland and notably (to myself and Aretha) is the godmother to Micah.
Dinner at Joan’s: left to right – Cath Moore, Gary Stricker, Romey Flores, George, Andy Orrell, Steve Greb and Jingle Ruppert
Also staying at Joan’s house were Dr Steve Greb (from the Kentucky Geological Survey and whom both Joan and I went to graduate school with in the 1980s and is also a fellow John Ferm student) and Leslie “Jingle” Ruppert (of the U.S. Geological Survey). We had a pre-conference dinner at Joan’s house and Dr Romey Flores, Gary Stricker (both formerly of the USGS) and Andy Orrell (Sandia National Laboratory) all came too. There was also Cath Moore (a co-author and friend) and her partner George – both are mathematicians of sorts (I once caught Cath mumbling into a book ‘yeah, yeah, that is just boooootiful’ and when I looked it was a full two pages of unintelligible formulas) and work for CSIRO in Brisbane.
A lot of stimulating conversations on all possible subjects of coal, gas, uncertainty, nuclear waste, the environment, fracking, and the list goes on. Andy and I have known each other, well… too long and he produced some photos of us when we were wee young geologists bopping around in the Powder River and Big Horn Basins of Wyoming in the early to mid 80s. Ah… rodeos, deer in the road, pistols, and square dancing.
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