moment's notice
Dropping in
Watching Jeff Mitton descend into a side canyon in the Maze reminded me of a young teen on his skateboard “dropping in” down the steep side of a bowl at the skatepark. With all the anticipation and excitement of what might be discovered, Jeff eagerly clambered down the red sandstone, eyes open for the next step, a cairn marking the trail , a ledge with pictographs, a lizard in a crack, or a plant with an unusual life history.
As a university professor and research scientist, Jeff has zealously indulged his curiosity about the natural world, specifically looking into genetic variations within and among populations and the evolutionary forces that influence them. With 44 years of study and mentoring under his hat, Jeff is leaving the confines of the University. But anyone who knows Jeff, knows that he will happily continue the search for knowledge, taking every opportunity to use his sense of humor, wisdom, stories, and photographs to educate the rest of us even if he has to use Natural Selection to do it.
Somewhere in his seventh decade, and still as spry as that teenager, Jeff
will not be dropping out of academic life, but with his incessant curiosity, dropping in on the Earth and its boundless mysteries for years to come. I’m looking forward to learning what he finds out.
Dropping in
Watching Jeff Mitton descend into a side canyon in the Maze reminded me of a young teen on his skateboard “dropping in” down the steep side of a bowl at the skatepark. With all the anticipation and excitement of what might be discovered, Jeff eagerly clambered down the red sandstone, eyes open for the next step, a cairn marking the trail , a ledge with pictographs, a lizard in a crack, or a plant with an unusual life history.
As a university professor and research scientist, Jeff has zealously indulged his curiosity about the natural world, specifically looking into genetic variations within and among populations and the evolutionary forces that influence them. With 44 years of study and mentoring under his hat, Jeff is leaving the confines of the University. But anyone who knows Jeff, knows that he will happily continue the search for knowledge, taking every opportunity to use his sense of humor, wisdom, stories, and photographs to educate the rest of us even if he has to use Natural Selection to do it.
Somewhere in his seventh decade, and still as spry as that teenager, Jeff
will not be dropping out of academic life, but with his incessant curiosity, dropping in on the Earth and its boundless mysteries for years to come. I’m looking forward to learning what he finds out.