Colby College
Department of Geology
Faculty and Staff
Academic Year 2009-2010



Dr. Robert A. Gastaldo, Chair
Whipple-Coddington Professor of Geology
Ph.D., Southern Illinois University, Carbondale


Dr. Gastaldo joined the Colby faculty as the inaugural Whipple-Coddington Professor of Geology and Department Chair in 1999. Dr. Gastaldo came to Colby with an international reputation in paleobotany, sedimentology and taphonomy, and is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America.

In the fall semester, he will be offering The Record of Life on Earth (GE251). In the spring, he will be teaching Deciphering Earth History (GE142) and Sedimentation and Stratigraphy (GE356).



Dr. Robert E. Nelson
Professor of Geology
Ph.D., University of Washington (Seattle)

Dr. Nelson will be on sabbatical leave in the fall term, and will be teaching Principles of Geomorphology (GE254) in the spring. He joined the Colby faculty in 1982.





Dr. Valerie Reynolds

Clare Booth Luce Assistant Professor of Geology
Ph.D., University of Tennessee

Dr. Reynolds will be teaching The Earth and Environment (GE141) and Topics in Geochemistry (GE397) in the fall semester, and Mineralogy (GE225) in the spring term. The newest member of the Geology faculty, Dr. Reynolds is in her second year at Colby.




Dr. Bruce F. Rueger
Visiting Assistant Professor of Geology
Ph.D., University of Colorado

Dr. Rueger will be teaching one lecture section as well as all the laboratories for Earth and the Environment (GE141) in the fall term, as well as the labs for Earth and the Environment and for Deciphering Earth History (GE142) in the spring term. This year, he'll also be offering a special JanPlan on Geology of the National Parks. He has been with the Department since 1984, and has been Visiting Assistant Professor since 2003, prior to which he was Senior Teaching Associate.






Dr. Walter A. ("Bill") Sullivan
Assistant Professor of Geology
Ph.D., University of Wyoming

Dr. Sullivan will be teaching Structural Geology in the fall term, and Earth and the Environment and Plate Tectonics (GE331) in the spring. A visiting member of our Department in 2007-2008, he is now in his second year as a continuing member of the Colby faculty. He will be on sabbatical leave in 2010-2011.





Ms. Alice M. Ridky
Administrative Secretary Extraordinaire

Alice Ridky keeps the Department of Geology (as well as the Department of Physics and Astronomy, and the Program in Science, Technology and Society) on a steady keel, maintaining and ordering supplies and equipment, coordinating student workers, typing exams and specialized documents, keeping track of Departmental budgets and records, answering student questions, guarding the Departmental supply of M&Ms, and handling unexpected emergencies with aplomb and expertise. She joined the Department in 1983.



Dr. Donald B. Allen
Professor of Geology, Emeritus
Ph. D., University of Illinois


Dr. Allen formally retired at the end of the 2006-2007 academic year, having joined the Colby faculty in the fall of 1967. An economic geologist, mineralogist and petrologist, he has been the principle architect in the Department of analytical links with the Department of Chemistry. He remains a regular presence in the department and continues to assist students working on independent research projects.








Dr. Donaldson Koons
Dana Professor of Geology, Emeritus
Ph.D., Columbia University
Honorary doctorates: D.Sc. 1974, D.H.E. 1977

Dr. Koons was Department Chair of Geology from 1947 until his retirement in 1982, with a tour of duty as Commissioner of the Maine Department of Conservation from 1973-75. A Fellow of the Geological Society of America, he remains active in the geological community and lives in Sidney, Maine. (Photo taken at the spring, 2003, meeting of the Geological Society of Maine, at the University of Maine, Orono.)


Dr. Harold R. Pestana
Professor of Geology, Emeritus
Ph.D., University of Iowa

Dr. Pestana joined the Colby faculty in 1959 and retired in 1996, establishing the Bermuda program which is continued by Bruce Rueger - the first foreign-study program in the sciences at Colby. He remains active in his retirement, and lives in Waterville. (Photo taken on one of the first Bermuda programs.)




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