Mark Turner:  

Life - Not As You Expect It, But As It Unfolds - Or What a Long Strange Trip It Continues To Be I live in northern Delaware, just south of Philadelphia. I am married to a wonderful woman who is a professor and assistant dean at a major medical school/university in Philadelphia. We have been married for 19+ years. No kids, but we have adopted three retired racing greyhounds. We bought a house in 2001 (60 years old now) as an excuse for me to buy lots of tools and learn a little about multiple building trades. Lots of trees; you'd think you were in the mountains.. I need to teach the dogs how to mow the lawn, because my wife isn't interested..Or buy a couple goats..The neighbors would love that. I decided to rebel after I graduated from Princeton.... Surprised? Me too. Eventually got a bachelors from U.C. in 1985 after some very hard lessons and 'interesting' life experiences. I discovered what it was like to be unemployed during the height of the 1982 recession during the trickle down economics era. After discovering my first degree was insufficient for a decent job, I went back for my masters in 1991 at Western Kentucky University. Received my MS in 1994. I am currently a registered professional geologist in two states. I started exploring caves during college. Caving is like mountaineering in the dark in a lot of respects. ..I have been the first person to ever see or walk in certain places under southern Kentucky, where I led a group of friends mapping a cave system which is in the top 100 for length in North America. After getting my MS, I spent ten years as an environmental consultant. I went into the business thinking I could leave the environment a little better than I found it. Sadly, the environmental consulting industry is often more about compliance with existing regulations and positioning clients so they keep their costs low and not get into legal trouble.. Want to help the environment? Send your contributions to the Center for Biological Diversity, the Sierra Club, or the Nature Conservancy.... Don't trust industry or their consultants to tell you about their fine environmental records... Welcome to my mid-life crisis.Between the long hours and the constant push for billable hours, my quality of life decreased dramatically. In 2002, I was laid off and couldn't find another job in the industry more sane than t...Expand for more