Issues in Earth Science
A Resource for Writers and Teachers
About Us
Russ Colson, Editor
Russ teaches planetary science, meteorology, and geology at Minnesota State University Moorhead. In 2010 he was selected by the Carnegie Foundation as US Professor of the Year. Before coming to Minnesota, he worked at the Johnson Space Center in Texas and at Washington University in St. Louis where, among other things, he studied how a lunar colony might mine oxygen from the local rock. Learn more about Russ's fiction and non-fiction books and resources at russcolson.com.
Mary Colson, Editor
Mary teaches 8th grade Earth Science at Horizon Middle School in Moorhead, MN, having taught previously in Texas and Tennessee. She was named Medtronic Minnesota Middle School Science Teacher of the year in 2008. She's served as president of the Minnesota Science Teacher's Association and as the District 9 director for the National Science Teacher's Association. Mary worked on the writing team for the Next Generation Science Standards. She has a Master's Degree in geology and has published technical papers on the Precambrian shoreline of the US East Coast and on the Hadrosaurs of South Dakota.
Laurie Ann Sand, Assistant Editor. 
Laurie holds a Bachelor's degree in biology, graduating summa cum laude, and a Master's degree in journalism. She writes, edits, and raises a young family in her rural home near Madison, Wisconsin. She loves to crochet, making gifts for family and friends and publishing many of her designs. Check out her sometimes-blog onbabiesandhobbies for mashups of all her passions, including crocheting for toddlers, and insights into life gleaned from watching Star Wars in Spanish.
Erin Colson, Assistant Editor
Erin completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2012 at the University of Utah, graduating magna cum laude. Although it would pain her art profs to no end if they knew, her favorite art styles are anime-inspired, and she has been working on an Avatar: The Last Airbender fan comic for the past several years. Erin also loves to write and post work on fanfiction.net. One of her more recent projects is an Avatar story that grapples with the right or wrong of destroying someone who seems beyond redemption.