Thirty people, bused together in two main vehicles and two private cars, are getting to know each other. Less than half are from the US. Backgrounds vary astonishingly, from non geologists, to undergraduates, grad students who work in completely different kinds of terrains, grad student experts in structures similar to the ones we are seeing, professionals, retired professors, others. The questions asked of the leaders are all over the map, so to speak.

Last night I spoke with Michel from Poland, who is a grad student mapping Paleozoic and Mesozoic unmetamorphosed sediments. He started studying geology because he thought he would learn all about dinosaurs. He told me about the Polish dinosaur parks, it sounds like the same ones run by the team who looked at the Ridge as possible partners. What a fun coincidence! He is traveling with two colleagues, also both grad students.

Elaina from Barcelona recently published a paper about Dinosaur Ridge and Red Rocks. She sent a copy of it to my work email address. I think she is with a colleague, but I’m not sure. 

Miranda and Gus are from Venezuela. John, from Australia, is here alone but his wife will be meeting up with him after the geology trip. He was attacked by sea gulls, one of which nicked his head! I told him that his wife will never let him go on a geology trip again! (He laughed.) 

George from Arizona is president of the Geological Society of America, the group who organized this trip. Steve, from Chevron in Aberdeen wears a big cowboy hat. John, an undergraduate in Michigan, is president of his family’s business. He decided that the business was going well, so he could take some time for a field trip and (soon) a bachelor degree. Richard was born in Scotland but grew up in Hungary. He is seeing the back country for the first time. A possible relative of his, wearing the Scottish tartan for the same family name, is on this trip, too. They had never met before.

Two are from France, I think, but they don’t talk much. A few are from the UK, of course, one of those is a retired chemist ( we would say pharmacist ). Scott is a prof at USC, and his wife is from Germany.

One of the leaders is on a committee for the International Geoparks group, which is interesting because Dinosaur Ridge is applying to become an International Geopark right now. The other leader knew one of the UCLA professors that both Brian and I liked a lot when we were there. They are toasting him tonight, because he worked in this area of Scotland and became famous for brilliant ideas that are still being used.

Where do Brian and I fit in? I don’t know. Bottom line is that everyone is here to try to understand our Earth better. So we fit in quite well.

• Scotland Geotrip