Geoffrey Cox

Prior to moving to the central North Island town of Rotorua in 1999, Geoff was a lecturer at the Auckland University of Technology teaching environmental science, zoology, botany and marine biology. Geoff is a leading author and illustrator of New Zealand natural history books for the general public having written more than 15. His book, Dinosaurs of New Zealand was the first book for the public on the subject while Prehistoric Animals of New Zealand was the first overview of this country’s prehistory. Similarly, Fountains of Fire the Story of Auckland’s Volcanoes was the first account for the public of the 50 or so volcanoes that pepper the landscape of New Zealand’s largest city. Other topics have included the Southern Alps, whales and sharks.  In addition, working principally as a natural history artist, he has illustrated over 70 books for other authors, designed three sets of New Zealand Post stamps, one set of American Post first day covers (featuring dinosaurs) and produced posters for several clients, including New Zealand Geographic magazine and the World Wildlife Fund.

Peter Bobrowsky

Peter Bobrowsky is a professional archaeologist and geologist with 40 years of experience working as a consultant, scholar, teacher and researcher across the globe. His academic achievements include almost 500 publications - 20 technical books such as the Encyclopedia of Natural Hazards, Encyclopedia of Engineering Geology and The Landslide Handbook - the latter written for the general public has been translated into Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, and Japanese; induction as an International Fellow of the Explorers Club of New York and Fellow of the Geological Society of America. He is the recipient of numerous awards including most notably the Eugene Shoemaker Communications Award for Best Book (2009), the Edward B. Burwell Jr. Award for Engineering Geology (2011), the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012) and the James Harrison Outstanding Achievement Award (2020).

Dr. Bobrowsky has a prominent history of international positions and appointments in particular Secretary General of the International Union of Geological Sciences an NGO representing some 1 million earth scientists around the world, President of the Canadian Quaternary Association, President of the Geological Association of Canada and President of the International Consortium on Landslides.

A popular global public speaker for the past 25 years he remains a much sought after and well-liked lecturer for the Smithsonian since 2004. His multi-disciplinary background and extensive travel to over 110 countries contribute to his unique, informative and enthusiastic speaking style. A born extrovert, with an easy going manner, Peter strives to understand and explain the crucial links between a diverse and dynamically changing Earth and the evolution of changing societies through history.

He divides his time between travel adventures and home life near Sidney by the Sea on Vancouver Island.

George Losey

George Losey, Professor Emeritus, University of Hawaii, received his Ph.D. from Scripps Institution of Oceanography working on the behavior and ecology of the fishes of the East Pacific. His research, mostly on coral reef fishes, includes cleaning symbiosis, intraspecific aggression, and learning behavior. His most recent work on ultraviolet vision and coloration in reef fishes led him to Australia's Lizard Island Research Station on two research expeditions. He has traveled extensively all over Australia and New Zealand.

Brent Garry

Brent Garry is a geologist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center where he studies lava flows and volcanoes on Earth and compares them to similar features on the Moon and Mars. He earned degrees in geology from The College of William and Mary (B.S.), the University of Kentucky (M.S.), and the University at Buffalo (Ph.D.). He then held a postdoctoral fellowship at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum from 2006-2010, after which he worked at the Planetary Science Institute for two years, and then moved to NASA. From 2008-2011, as a member of NASA’s Desert RATS team, Brent lived in prototype space vehicles for up to two weeks at a time during simulated missions to the lunar surface and asteroids. Brent has conducted fieldwork in Iceland, Hawaii, New Mexico, Idaho, Oregon, and Belize; served as editor for the GSA special volume Analogs for Planetary Exploration; and was selected as a Participating Scientist on NASA’s Dawn and Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) missions. Outside the office, Brent enjoys running and scuba diving.