Geoscience Reports 31:6-8 (Spring 2001).

GEOSCIENCE RESEARCH INSTITUTE NEWS

    For two "long" weeks in February, Drs. Arthur Chadwick, Elaine Kennedy, Ray Kablanow and Christopher Prince worked in the Grand Canyon, collecting samples from the lower Tapeats Sandstone unit for their research on the Cambrian/Precambrian contact in northern Arizona, U.S.A. The studies were conducted at Monadnock Amphitheater and Tapeats Creek. Transportation to and between sites was successfully negotiated by Steve Bledsoe, a well-known boatman from Flagstaff, AZ.
    This trip marked the end of the team’s seven-year research project in the Grand Canyon, and for Art Chadwick, concludes more than 20 years of research.
    This final excursion was not as wet and cold as the investigators had anticipated — which contributed significantly to the success of the field work. All four scientists plan to coauthor papers on this research over the next 2 to 3 years as laboratory analyses and results are completed.
    To illustrate the raft trip, we are including some of the photographs taken by Elaine Kennedy.

Ranger and Joel going over the checklist of equipment at Lee’s Ferry launch area. (Photo courtesy Elaine Kennedy)

Here’s the tree where John Wesley Powell tied his boat near the end of his historic trip through the Grand Canyon. (Photo courtesy Elaine Kennedy)

Deer Creek Falls. (Photo courtesy Elaine Kennedy)

Lost rapids, Lava Falls. (Photo courtesy Elaine Kennedy)

From l-r: Art Chadwick, Ray Kablanow, Steve Bledsoe, and Chris Prince. (Photo courtesy Elaine Kennedy)

See the wise owl gazing at us? (Photo courtesy Elaine Kennedy)

Bighorn sheep. (Photo courtesy Elaine Kennedy)

The Precambrian to Kaibab layers are visible here. (Photo courtesy Elaine Kennedy)

Camp setup. Ray and Steve tend the stove. (Photo courtesy Elaine Kennedy)

GRI Staff Transition: Clyde L. Webster

    Clyde Webster has been a senior research scientist at Geoscience Research Institute since July, 1983. In January, 2001, he resigned from the GRI for medical reasons and to spend more time with his family. His wife, Priscilla, is a registered nurse and nurse educator. They have two daughters.
    Dr. Webster received his BSc degree from Walla Walla College (College Place, Washington) in 1968, and continued his studies at Colorado State University (Fort Collins, Colorado). In 1972 he acquired his Ph.D. in Physical-Inorganic Geochemistry. His research topic was "Selenium isotope analysis and geochemical applications."
    During his graduate school years, Dr. Webster worked as a research chemist for the United States Geological Survey in Denver, Colorado. After graduation he was self-employed as the owner/director of C & L Laboratories in Denver, eventually selling his laboratory to Commercial Testing and Engineering in 1975.
    From the practical application of his training in chemistry through the analytical services laboratory, Dr. Webster moved into the academic world, teaching in the Chemistry department at the La Sierra campus of Loma Linda University, and then serving as chairman of the department from 1978-1980.
    Dr. Webster returned to his alma mater, Walla Walla College, to chair the Chemistry department from 1980-1983.
    Although much of his time was occupied with teaching and administrative responsibilities, Dr. Webster pursued research in the depositional geochemistry of uranium roll-front deposits in Shirley Basin, Wyoming. In 1982 the GRI sponsored his research on trace element profiles in historic lavas.
    After joining the GRI, Dr. Webster continued his research activities on the trace elements in Hawaiian lavas (a baseline study). He has conducted geochemical analyses of volcanic ash beds in the Sepulcher Formation near Specimen Creek in Yellowstone National Park as well as their possible sources. He has also done computer studies of geochemical stability fields of uranium, sulfur, selenium, iron, vanadium and polonium.
    More recently Dr. Webster studied and published in Origins an article on the Bridgewater fossil forest in Victoria, Australia. He also participated in another research project doing geochemical analyses on impact eject from the Chicxulub crater on Albion Island in Belize — a suggested end-Cretaceous boundary site. He was coauthor on a Geological Society of America abstract and on a paper published in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters for this research.
    While at GRI, Dr. Webster shared his understanding of the interface between science and religion worldwide. He edited and authored a supplemental high-school science textbook entitled The Earth: Origins and Early History, and a GRI booklet titled "A Scientist’s Perspective on Creation and the Flood" (a Spanish edition is also available). He edited Geoscience Reports from 1984 to 1987. He also served as research grant coordinator and safety officer.
    As impressive as his scholarly accomplishments may be, Clyde’s "curriculum vita" does not encompass his multiple interests and talents. The GRI staff knows Clyde to be a fun-loving person. He likes to put an occasional slide into someone else’s carousel to perk up the presentation. He is known to be both a patient racquetball teacher and a formidable opponent on the court.
    Clyde enjoys people, airplanes, gold mining, electronics, photography, bowling, World War II stories, attending ice hockey games, and finding bargains on gemstones. Some of us will never forget how he assisted the police in Utrecht by apprehending his own personal pickpocket. Most importantly, we know him to be a spiritual man, devoted to the Bible class he teaches at church and committed to his God.
    Thank you, Clyde, for 17 years of many wonderful, shared memories! We wish you God’s richest blessings for the future.

Clyde L. Webster