This month's speaker: Dr. William Orr


Bill Orr is one of the favorite speakers of the Eugene Natural History Society. His visit this time comes shortly after the publication of a new book, Oregon Fossils, co-authored with his wife, Liz. Earlier books they have worked on together include Geology of Oregon (1992) and Geology of the Pacific Northwest (1995). One of the fabulous features of these books are the drawings made by Liz Orr. In Geology of Oregon these drawings include block diagrams that illustrate the structure and development of Oregon's complex geological history in the clearest manner. Her trademark combinations of skeleton and reconstruction of Oregon's extinct animals are used to illustrate this issue of Nature Trails; these were taken from Geology of Oregon.

We sent Bill our usual set of questions; his responses follow:

Were you interested in nature as a child? Yes, I was an inveterate collector of animals and rocks.

Parental influences? Both parents encouraged (no demanded!) I go to college.

Early teacher influences? None in High school but several in college

Any nature hobbies? ...insects, snakes, mammal skeletons, etc.

Landmark experiences? ...travel as a military dependent (Air Force) to Hawaii, etc.

Memorable travels? above...

Who influenced you to pursue advanced studies? Paleontology prof at Oklahoma University

How did you get into your area of specialization? Took Paleontology as an undergraduate--hated the prof but the Teaching assistant was superb

Where did you get your training? B.S. Oklahoma University; M.S. University of California; Ph.D. Michigan State University.

What brought you to our town? I was raided away from Eastern Washington University in 1967 by Ernie Lund. My parents lived in Salem at the time and the move allowed me to begin teaching in a graduate program.

What are you going to talk about? The relationship between Volcanics and Fossils. Oregon's superb fossil record is the direct result of the volcanic overlay of the state-something Liz and I did not fully appreciate until we wrote the 1999 book OREGON FOSSILS.


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