Robert M. Schoch, a full-time faculty member of the College of General Studies at Boston University, received his Ph.D. in geology and geophysics from Yale University in 1983. Since 1984, he has specialized in teaching undergraduate science, including environmental science, biology, physical science, geology, geography, and courses in science and public policy – with a strong environmental component in all courses he teaches. He is a recipient of his college’s Peyton Richter Award for interdisciplinary teaching, and serves as director of its Institute for the Study of the Origins of Civilization.Dr. Schoch is the author or coauthor of books both technical and popular, including Phylogeny Reconstruction in Paleontology; Stratigraphy: Principles and Methods; Horns, Tusks, and Flippers: The Evolution of Hoofed Mammals; Voices of the Rocks; Voyages of the Pyramid Builders; Forgotten Civilization: The Role of Solar Outbursts in Our Past and Future; and Origins of the Sphinx. Keenly interested in how environmental factors have helped shape ancient and modern civilizations, and passionate in his assertion that understanding past environmental changes is important as we face future challenges, Dr. Schoch has undertaken fieldwork in numerous countries, including England, Wales, Scotland, Norway, Malta, Egypt, Turkey, South Africa, Mexico, Peru, Bolivia, Chile (Easter Island), Romania, Bulgaria, Bosnia, India, Japan, and Indonesia.Besides his academic and scholarly studies, Dr. Schoch is an active environmental advocate who stresses a pragmatic, hands-on approach. In this connection, he helped found a local community land trust devoted to protecting land from harmful development, for many years serving on its Board of Directors. Furthermore, he takes an active part in “green” politics and for over a decade served as an elected member of the city council of Attleboro, Massachusetts.
