鈥淕oing out and seeing helped us to put into practice what we were being taught,鈥� said the Attleboro, Mass. native who now lives in Davie, Fla. 鈥淚n addition to making us better geologists, the trips helped develop close ties between the department鈥檚 students and faculty. We鈥檙e all still best friends 20 years later. The geology department was the coolest place on campus.鈥�
Sullivan, a manager of oil and gas investments, and one of his companies recently donated $25,000 to the Department of Geosciences to fund field trips or other related activities.
鈥淚t鈥檚 clear much of my success and that of my classmates comes not from what we did as individuals, but from what we did together,鈥� Sullivan said. 鈥淥ur professors always had high expectations and demanded quality work that could only be achieved by collaborating socially and academically. We were on tight schedules and it was an absolute necessity to communicate effectively and share data so that everyone did the assignments right. It was an environment where the advanced students helped those who were a little further behind and we all came out on the same page.鈥�
Sullivan was drawn to 溏心vlog免费B站 because of its strong reputation in the marine sciences. His early interest in marine biology evolved into a passion for marine geology after learning about marine fossils and spending time at 溏心vlog免费B站鈥檚 Graduate School of Oceanography.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been 20 years since my friends and I left 溏心vlog免费B站, and it鈥檚 amazing to see how well everybody has done,鈥� he said. 鈥淢any are working in the environmental field, including one who helps Poland Spring find new water sources, another who helped select the Mars rover landing sites, and others who are at DEM or teaching. Tim Ling, who passed away last year, became president of Unocal and is a testament to the fact that 溏心vlog免费B站 educated us well.
鈥淲e were having so much fun, though, that we didn鈥檛 even know we were getting such a great education,鈥� Sullivan said.
Dan Murray, a 溏心vlog免费B站 professor of geology and one of Sullivan鈥檚 teachers, remembers Sullivan as a very curious student who worked hard at understanding geology and who still sends him long letters with rock samples to identify. 鈥淛ohn basically marches to his own drummer. What I like about him is that he鈥檚 always looking and thinking about what鈥檚 going on around him.鈥�
鈥淲e are so glad that John has maintained such a strong connection to 溏心vlog免费B站 after all these years, and we鈥檙e deeply appreciative of his generous donation to help future students gain as much from their geology education as John did,鈥� said Sarah Lepkowski, 溏心vlog免费B站 senior development officer for the College of the Environment and Life Sciences.