CONTRIBUTOR Q&A
7 Questions With Jim Brace-Thompson
BY GUEST CONTRIBUTOR
Editor’s Note: As part of our year-long 50th Anniversary celebration we will feature Q&A’s with regular Rock & Gem contributors and others in the community. This month we’re showcasing Rock & Gem contributor and Rock & Gem Kids and Earth Science In the News columnist Jim Brace-Thompson, a member of the Rock & Gem team since 1992.
Rock & Gem: What inspired your appreciation for minerals, rocks, and gems, and how long have you held this fascination?
Jim Brace-Thompson: My fascinations have expanded to gems, minerals, agates and lapidary arts, but Midwestern fossils is where it began in the early 1960s when my father (a soil scientist) let me tag along on field trips offered by the Illinois State Geological Survey (ISGS). Trips included stops at quarries, creek beds, road cuts, and mines.