Edward Clarke

While growing up among the lush mountains of Ireland and the sandy bluffs of Texas, Edward developed a deep love for the earth. At a young age, he became enamored with the Fort Worth Limestone Formation, a fossilized seabed packed with the shells of ancient creatures. His fascination led to a bachelor’s in geology, focused on microvertebrate paleontology of the early Mesozoic and for years he studied ancient diversification events preserved in the fossil record. But realizing that the hours spent bent over a microscope could be much better spent outdoors, he packed up and moved to Washington.

 

After several seasons working and living on a boat in North Cascades National Park, he found the perfect combination of science and sun as a Geological Interpretation Ranger at Shenandoah National Park. As an NPS Ranger, he gets to teach about ancient tectonics, human history, and surface processes, while meeting park visitors from all over the world. No matter where he is, though, the one ever-present thread is always his fascination with why the land looks the way it does. As a naturalist at Lindblad, he’s thrilled to get to tell the stories of some of the most dramatic landscapes in the world.

 

When he’s not working, Edward spends his days writing novels, blacksmithing, and swimming in any body of water that he can find.