THE LONG ARM OF DR. KENNETH L. PIERCE

I never had the pleasure of fleshing out a science problem directly with Ken Pierce, but his remarkable career and interdisciplinary research helped guide and shape me, long before we met...from my undergraduate days to my service as Supervisory Geologist for Yellowstone National Park. As an undergraduate geology student at IUPUI, smack dab in the middle of the craton, I had the good fortune of serving as a Research Assistant with Dr. Robert D. Hall. Bob assigned “Dr. Pierce’s” groundbreaking work on glacial deposits in the Western US as preparation for a field season digging soil pits, ultimately to refine Pinedale and Bull Lake ages, in the Wind River Mountains of Wyoming. I ate it up (and I carried out the soil samples from 11,000 ft!). Despite following a path in the realm of shallow groundwater hydrogeology, I’ve always tried to emulate the “renaissance geologist” aura that I saw in Ken: ”it’s the Earth, it’s all related!” I’m certain that my selection as Yellowstone’s first Supervisory Geologist goes back to that undergrad field season in the Winds, and all that followed. The icing on my cake came when I arrived for full-time work in Yellowstone National Park where there were Bob Christiansen, Don Despain, Irving Friedman, Bob Smith, Lisa Morgan, ..., and Ken Pierce, waiting to hold my hand and guide me through one of the world’s best classrooms. Any attempt to “manage” geological resources in a place like Yellowstone demands a rigorous and up-to-date foundation. Who better to gain that insight from than the likes of Ken Pierce? I know there are countless geologists, across the spectrum of Earth sciences, in every stage of their career, that have benefited from the incredible body of knowledge illuminated by Ken Pierce. I’m honored to say that he helped to shape my career, one that began in the craton, shared the classroom, lab, and field with students, sauntered through old and young orogenic belts, and reached its height on the Yellowstone Plateau.