09 April 2004

Meet Scott W. Singleton, another kindred spirit

Forrest M. Mims III

Last week's editorial introduced Tony Kostusik, a meteor collector, photographer and pilot.

This week I want to introduce Scott W. Singleton, a professional geophysicist with Reservoir Technologies Division of Houston, Texas and a special kind of amateur scientist.

 

Scott Singleton, a professional geophysicist and amateur fossil wood expert, shows children some of his samples through a microscope at the Southwest Gem and Mineral Show in San Antonio, Texas. Click image to enlarge.

I met Singleton at the recent Southwest gem and Mineral Show in San Antonio, where my daughter Sarah received a special science fair award.

As is the usual situation at gem and mineral shows, most of the exhibitors at the show were commercial dealers. But somehow I was attracted to an exhibit at the very back in a corner.

There Scott Singleton was leaning over his exhibit table, enthusiastically showing several children how to peer through a stereo microscope. There they could see a magnified view of a thin slice of fossil wood.

After each young person had a look, Singleton asked if they would like to have a specimen of fossil wood. He then directed them to a large box at the side of his exhibit, where they could select from dozens of specimens.

Singleton wasn't selling his specimens to those children. He was giving them away!

Between visits by families and individuals to his exhibit, I introduced myself to Singleton and asked if he is a paleontologist. He replied that is a geophysicist by profession. Fossil wood is his hobby.

"Do you consider yourself a fossil wood amateur scientist?" I asked. Singleton replied that he did. This was a perfect opportunity to introduce Singleton to the Society for Amateur Scientists. He expressed interest and even asked if he could submit something to "The Citizen Scientist" about fossil wood.

There's much more to this story. Since 2002 I've been trying to find a source of fossilized baldcypress (Taxodium distichum). This has turned out to much more difficult than anticipated. So I was quite surprised to see several very large specimens of fossil baldcypress on Singleton's display table.

Scott Singleton and one of his many specimens of fossil wood. Click image to enlarge.

All these specimens had clearly discernable rings. This was especially good news, for I have been working on a novel method to extract sunlight information recorded in the annual growth rings of baldcypress. The method might work with fossil wood, hence my interest in Singleton's specimens.

I suspect we'll be hearing more about Scott Singleton in the future. Meanwhile, as with businessman Tony Kostusik, the lesson for the Society for Amateur Scientists is that citizen scientists are everywhere we look.

If you are not already a member of SAS, I invite you to join. If you are an SAS member, please consider visiting science fairs, star parties, garden club meetings, lectures, science museums, and, of course, gem and mineral shows. Perhaps a Tony Kostusik or a Scott Singleton is just waiting to find out about the Society for Amateur Scientists.