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 U.S. Department of Labor Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). I stayed with this agency as a geologist and coal mine inspector for 28 years collecting plant fossils in the coal mines and outcrops (road cuts) in southwestern Virginia. For approximately 26 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.