THE OCEANOGRAPHER FROM UP-ISLAND

Conrad Neumann was truly an amazing one-of-a-kind, the likes of which we will not see again. I was fortunate enough to call him my mentor, colleague, fishing buddy and great friend. From the moment he invited me on a series of ALVIN dives on the Florida Straits lithoherms and I came to UNC as his post-doc in 1984 to work on carbonate particle fluxes, I knew that I had been given a unique professional opportunity that became a cornerstone of my career and evolved into a long friendship. I learned by example from Conrad that teaching oceanography and geology with our enthusiasm for scientific discovery and relating real-life experiences was how to truly reach students—and I, like others, incorporated into my courses his fabulous scientific cartoons that he generously gave to so many, and of course his infamous Bermuda sea level curve. We spent many hours discussing (and occasionally arguing about) carbonate platform sedimentation and geochemical dynamics because the man was nothing if not strongly opinionated on these topics that he knew so well! But Conrad was above all a constant explorer, never ceasing to revel in deciphering earth’s stories told in the rocks and by the sea, whether it be on his umpteenth oceanographic cruise, Shackleford Banks field trip, Bahamas geology field course, or trek around the up-island cliffs—and then he shared it with us all in his many poems. In addition to his carbonate geology legacy and the many, many students he inspired and mentored, Conrad’s enduring message to us was to embrace every new adventure with gusto, eyes wide open and a good dose of humor.