Chris Rowan is a geologist specialising in the dark arts of paleomagnetism, and getting people to pay him to travel to exotic destinations for fieldwork. Having drilled up New Zealand during his PhD, he is now a post-doc at the University of Johannesburg. 
The Seed overlords would like to find a little bit more about who you are. If you take the time to complete this survey, you are rewarded with the chance to win Apple stuff.
Some of my fellow Sciblings have also been enticing their readers to reveal themselves, and give them some bloggy feedback. I've found this sort of exercise valuable in the past, so consider the comments below an open forum. Who are you? What brought you here? What (if anything) keeps you coming back? Are there any subjects you'd like to see me talking about more, or less? Is there anything else I should do to aid the more geologically-challenged to take their first steps in a larger (and cooler) world?
Comments
I'm a third year PhD student in England, looking at middle Pleistocene environmental change. I came here when you were assimilated into the borg and return because I find your blog fun and often informative. I enjoy the palaeomag stuff as I once took a hugely enjoyable course with Rob Coe and have tried to keep vaguely aquainted with palaeomag stuff ever since.
In terms of subjects for the future, what about a "basic concepts" in geology type thing. John Wilkins does something more biological based at Evolving Thoughts. Also, how about some popular science book reviews for non-geologists? One other thing could be a "citation classic" piece like The Evilutionary Biologists does, covering a classic paper once a week or so.
This is also convenient as it provides a fine opportunity to plug my newly created blog! It will cover various subjects, but also some of a geological nature (particularly related to Pleistocene stuff).
http://thepleistocene.blogspot.com/
PS; thanks for indulging my shameless blog plugging!
Posted by: SteveF | August 8, 2008 3:47 PM
Chris, you know me from nearly two years of blog interaction ... but for other readers:
I am a research geologist ... I completed my PhD in January 2008 and now work in the private sector (aka "The Man"). I spend most of my time pondering turbidity currents and their deposits (turbidites), sediment transport processes and geomorphology of the deep-sea, and what ancient sedimentary successions, in general, can tell us about past Earth conditions (see here).
I keep coming back because your posts distill complex concepts into succinct and understandable statements ... this isn't easy to do. You also stay above (if not completely out of) some of the 'drama' that occurs at Sb or elsewhere in the science blogosphere. Not to say that's not fun once in a while, but it's a very small % of your blog.
What should you do more of? Hmmm ... maybe start a series posting about some seminal papers in paleomag; ones that significantly changed previous paleogeographic/paleotectonic interpretations. I guess that's kind of along the lines of what SteveF said above.
http://clasticdetritus.com/
Posted by: BrianR | August 8, 2008 4:08 PM
I'm a geologic mapper with a state geologic survey in the U.S.... Because I spend most of my time working on projects, etc... I don't get much of a chance to keep up with the science, and also to study up on geology that's slowly fading from my brain... The GeoBlogospheroid is a good way for me to keep connected and on the up-and-up with what's going on my our science...
Posted by: Joe Kopera | August 8, 2008 4:33 PM
I keep looking around my local jurassic beach and the more I think 'WTF is that and how did it get there?' the more I think I need to know more about geology. That's why I come here: entertaining, informative, good links. And Sciblogs have been generous to my other pet project, celebrating the life and work of a geologist of no mean reputation (although he later became known for other things), so I like it here.
Posted by: Peter Mc | August 8, 2008 6:44 PM
I'm a graduate student doing research in planetary magnetism, specifically using dynamo models to study the magnetic fields of other planets. For one brief shining moment you discussed exactly what I do
http://scienceblogs.com/highlyallochthonous/2008/03/where_the_earths_magnetic_fiel.php
That was the post that keeps me drifting back here every few weeks.
Posted by: Ryan V | August 9, 2008 3:33 PM
When I was six I wanted to become a palaeontologist and dig up dinosaurs (yes, I could spell it, too!). Now, I'm a software engineer who still thinks earth history is fascinating, that plate tectonics is the second-coolest idea ever to occur to anyone (the first of course being evolution), and longs to be able to look at a landscape and describe how it got that way. Unfortunately, my practical petrology sucks.
IOW, I'm a frustrated geo wannabe and general science fanboy, and that's why I read SB in general and HA specifically.
What would I like to see? Keep up the geo-puzzles, so I can keep on making an amateur fool of myself (or not, as the case may be).
Posted by: Eamon Knight | August 9, 2008 8:17 PM
OK, I'll chime in.
I've been reading one ScienceBlog (Evolving Thoughts) for some time, because I know John Wilkins through Usenet, but recently I decided to look more comprehensively at the whole spectrum of ScienceBlogs, seeking variety, and Highly Allochthonous made it to my shortlist of ScienceBlogs to read routinely. I'm reasonably familiar with geology because my father is a geologist who specialises in mesozoic petroleum palynology and has the beard to prove it. I'm sure he would enjoy this blog, if he read blogs.
Posted by: Adrian Morgan | August 10, 2008 1:17 AM
Well, I seem to be outclassed here. I am 34, back in school, I am a junior Geoscience major, criminal justice minor at University of Wisconsin-Parkside in Kenosha, wi. I was researching a topic for one of my classes when I stumbled upon ScienceBlogs and I've been reading this one since :)
Posted by: Cathy LaFaive-Markstrom | August 10, 2008 2:54 PM
I've got your blog bookmarked among about 10 geoscience blogs I read when I get the geology itch. I'm an 49-yr old sedimentologist with a keen interest in tectonics. One of my graduate advisors was a paleomagnetist, so I took a graduate level paleomag course once-upon-a-time and helped to drill up some outcrops in Mexico. I later spent 15 years gainfully employed as a petroluem geologist, the majority of which were spent in international exploration. I left about 10 years ago to spend time with my family--3 kids--and read geology blogs to stay in touch with rocks!
Posted by: Laurel (Vedder) Kirkpatrick | August 10, 2008 7:00 PM
I'm Andrew Alden, a writer with a geology degree who lucked into the launch, in 1997, of what became About.com. I adore the geoblogosphere because it's full of people who are really on my wavelength. I particularly enjoy your range of subject matter and your zeal for clarity. Keep things at a level that would charm a good high-school student, no lower, and don't be afraid to go up to postgraduate level either. Whatever you do is great.
Posted by: Andrew | August 11, 2008 12:55 AM
I'm a mineral exploration geologist. We rarely get the opportunity to think about or look at stuff outside the field of economic geology, so I love being able to keep somewhat up-to-date with this. Chris, this is an excellent blog, I like your style of writing and the way you think.
Posted by: PaulG | August 12, 2008 4:51 AM
I like your style of writing, the clarity of your illustrations and photos, and the fact that you cover the cool things about geology that I don't have time to actually wade through in their peer-reviewed versions.
Posted by: Anne Jefferson | August 12, 2008 1:08 PM
I've been reading for over two years, from before your Scienceblogs.com days! I'm not a geologist (I'm a chemist) and so read your blog to read about things I would not read about 'normally'. I think I found your blog when I was looking for British Postdoctoral/Postgraduate science bloggers, and have read since. You write at a level I can understand which is simply awesome!
Posted by: KatyH | August 13, 2008 5:54 AM
Interested layperson here: I was a biology major who also took quite a few geology courses in college, [mumble] years ago, and have been following geology news in an "armchair spectator" sort of way ever since.
You're writing at just about the right level for me: so far, any technical terms I didn't already know have been explained.
Posted by: Chrissl | August 14, 2008 9:52 PM