مؤلف: Thomas F. McLoughlin

A bachelor of science degree was earned while attending Morehead State University at Morehead, Kentucky. In December of 1979, I completed my master thesis in geology at Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond, Kentucky. Then in June 1980, I joined the US Department of Labor Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). I stayed with this agency as a geologist and coal-mine inspector for twenty-eight years, collecting plant fossils in the coal mines and outcrops (road cuts) in southwestern Virginia. For approximately twenty-six years, I taught introduction to geology courses at colleges in Cumberland, Kentucky, and Wise, Virginia. I started out in geology as a rock hound, collecting rocks, minerals, and fossils. By the end of high school, I decided to become a geologist and attended college. Actually, my parents insisted that I leave home because it was overtaken by my rock samples. During high school and college, I practiced lapidary work, making jewelry from minerals and rocks.