Were you interested in nature as a child?

“Yes, I grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio and loved spending time in the woods near my house. In middle school and the first part of high school I got to go to summer camp in Colorado.”

Hobbies?

“Always interested in photography. Now that I'm single, I've taken up dancing.” (I tried, but couldn't find a picture of her dancing.)

Dr. Miller cites her field camp experience in 1981 as dominant in her decision to get into structural geology, and she especially remembers the great experience of “. . . spending a day in the field with *E'an Zen, looking at rock relations as a way to see the antiquity of Earth.”

As one can imagine, Marli has visited numerous places in her career, her most memorable was to the Republic of Kyrgyzstan in the late 1990's.

She earned her BA from Colorado College, her MS from the University of Wahington, and her PhD from UW in 1992. She migrated to Eugene to teach at the University of Oregon and joined the Geological Sciences faculty in 1997. Marli loves her geology, loves her photography but considers teaching to perhaps be her most important pursuit. She states on her website: “Ultimately, I think this whole science of geology boils down to teaching--if we can't communicate what we've learned, what good is it?”

Marli earned Professor of the Year at the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire, in 1996. And became a Fellow, Geological Society of America, in 2007.

When I asked her about her current area of special interest, she responded “ . . . unravelling the extensional history of the Black Mountains in Death Valley, California.”

She is currently writing a book on western American geology as seen through national parklands.

What will we hear about Friday night?

“I plan to present photographs of landscape and rock to illustrate the great age of the earth.”

*E-an Zen Ph.D. Harvard University, 1955 , Adjunct Professor Department of Geology, University of Maryland

What a treat to have Dr. Marli Miller, fascinating topic, fine photography. Members, bring a guest--this will be a great beginning for the 2007/2008 season!

Marli's photos, often used by educators to illustrate in detail a geological phenomenon, equally draw the attention of the aesthetically minded. The grace, the texture and contrast reinforce the structural beauty of our natural landforms. I have included a few of these elegant photos below. For access to more of Marli's photos and her suggested links for geologic information, click to her gallery. http://www.marlimillerphoto.com/

Click on the ENHS Gallery and you will see the pictures that fit on this page in hard copy.