Doc Rock - Barbara Frank, Ph. D.
At a time when men considered the study of the "Great Outdoors" their realm, Barbara took her first Geology course. She loved the study of the Earth and immediately switched majors to become the first female geology major at Binghamton University and completed her undergraduate degree majoring in Geology in three years. The Geology Department Chair encouraged her in her studies and arranged for Barbara to receive a National Defense Education Act Title IV Fellowship to complete a doctorate in three years bypassing a Masters degree.
While a graduate student, Barbara was awarded a National Science Foundation Fellowship to attend the Juneau Ice field Research Project in Alaska. In 1968, as the sole female participant with 39 male participants, Barbara found the two month field experience to be life-changing and has since always strived to have a strong experiential component in all her academic pursuits.
When determining her dissertation research area, Barbara again forged into areas yet untackled. She conducted an environmental interdisciplinary project on the effects of urbanization on the stream flow of a river in the early 1970’s, when environmental geology was not yet a specialization in the field of Geology.
After completion of her doctorate at the age of 26 in 1972, Dr. Frank received a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship to study glacial melt water streams in Norway. The University of Maryland University College hired Dr. Frank to develop a Geology program for their Munich Campus.
Professor Frank's fifteen year tenure was marked by an unprecedented attendance of 25% of the student body in her classes and study tours.
She led study tours throughout the year to Italy to explore active volcanoes, Yugoslavia for its extensive cave system and Austria and Switzerland for glaciers, involving undergraduate and graduate students and Department of Defense Dependent School teachers. Her undergraduate students gave her the nickname "Doc Rock" which captures her enthusiasm for the Planet Earth and her dedication to helping others share in the wonder of Nature.
Doc Rock’s now grown son and daughter accompanied her and her students on most of her early earth adventures.
Since returning to the United States on a American Academy for the Advancement of Science Congressional Fellowship in 1989, Professor Frank has worked on international science and technology initiatives of the U. S. House of Representatives Science, Space and Technology Committee, environmental education initiatives at the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency and on nuclear waste cleanup for the U. S. Department of Energy. In the course of her work as a Senior Manager for the Federal Government, she earned a Masters of Science at American University in Organizational Development to best facilitate the major change management initiatives required for mankind to deal more responsibly with the Earth.
Convinced that better decision making with regard to the Environment will only come from an awareness and appreciation that we are part of Nature, Doc Rock is actively involved in training teachers in Earth Science, writing earth detective children's books and leading earth adventure tours.
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Doc Rock
+1 703 759-0038
fax +1 208-723-9544
