August 15, 2023
Few college students have the opportunity to go on a geology field trip to Scotland with the father of the theory of plate tectonics. For one week in 1995, twelve of my classmates and I had the pleasure of climbing around on rocks in the windiest, bitterest, and craggiest parts of the Isle of Arran. Jason Morgan was the most down-to-earth and congenial genius-scientist a girl like me could ever hope to meet.
Unfortunately for me, I have only pictures of me with my classmates from that trip — none with my professors. The class was co-taught by another most inspiring man, Kenneth Deffeyes, who passed away several years ago in San Diego. I was so inspired by this freshman seminar and my professors that I toyed with the idea of majoring in geology. The advanced geophysics class I took afterward taught me to appreciate geology in a supportive role and to major in a field of study more appropriate to my strengths. No regrets there — being an English major rocked! (See what I did there?)
Alas, Professor Morgan is one of the people I am proudest to have known. To say that I gained a love of geology, the Earth, and all of its hidden mysteries from his class is truly special. To say that I had my first shot of Scotch at a rundown pub on the Isle of Arran, Scotland, with the Nobel-worthy pioneer of geologic science? That is priceless.