Department of Geology

Eastern Washington University

Professor Ernest Gilmour

When I arrived at Eastern in 1967, the Department of Geology did not exist as a separate entity. Bill Wilkerson, James Snook, Eugene Kiver, and I obtained permission in 1968 to form the Department of Geology and elect our first chairperson. Prior to coming to Eastern, and following my graduate course work at the University of Montana, I worked as a field geologist for the U.S. Geological Survey in 1964 and spent one year in Great Falls, Montana. A new position of Mineral Fuels Geologist and assistant professor opened up at Montana Tech in Butte, Montana, and I served in that position for two years working in coal, oil and gas, and teaching in the college. I finished my dissertation at the University of Montana on the Alaska Bench Formation of central Montana in 1967 and joined the Department of Geography and Geology at Eastern. My Master's thesis from the University of Montana in 1964 dealt with the Precambrian Belt Supergroup in northwestern Montana. Undergraduate education was at the University of Southern California, culminating in 1960 with a B.S. degree in geology.

Except for a brief stint as Dean of the Graduate School and Provost of the university, I have been teaching and conducting research since 1967. Although most of my teaching is now in the introductory geology area, I have taught historical geology, life in the geologic past, integrated science, investigating science, invertebrate paleontology, vertebrate paleontology, stratigraphy, field methods, field camp, geologic hazards, carbonate petrology and paleoecology, stratigraphic paleontology, micropaleontology, scanning electron microscopy, and numerous workshops for teachers.

My research in invertebrate paleontology concerns the taxonomy, biostratigraphy, and paleoecology of Paleozoic bryozoans. Bryozoans are small colonial organisms that live in marine waters all around the earth. My particular interest is in bryozoans of the Carboniferous and Permian Periods. I have been very fortunate in having the opportunity to study bryozoans on National Academy of Sciences exchange fellowships to Russia in 1974 and Poland in 1975; a year-long Fulbright fellowship to Pakistan in 1980-81; and a professional leave to New Zealand in 1992. However, most of my research has been conducted in the western U.S., especially Nevada and Montana.

I enjoy teaching geology and working with students in the paleontology lab as much as anything else I do. It's fun to go fishing at the local lakes or spend Christmas break on the big island of Hawaii, but I really look forward to the next group of students who challenge my knowledge and continuously help me learn something new about the earth.