Peter Harries—Presentation of the 2014 Paleontological Society Medal
graduated his first Ph.D. student, Carl Koch, through the affiliation with George Washington University; his move to the University of Colorado in 1980 led to a rapid and dramatic growth in the number of students Erle was supervising. This group, which at one point reached something approaching 20 Master’s and Ph.D. students, became known as the CAT—the Cretaceous Attack Team feared by outcrops across the basin— and resulted in large numbers of publications, let alone theses and dissertations, dedicated to better understanding the Western Interior Seaway. Furthermore, following Erle’s lead in con- sidering himself to be a prominent source of erosion within the basin given the prodigious collections he made, the CAT also contributed to the flattening of the region with numerous tons of rock in beer flats schlepped back to Boulder, straining not only the springs of our vehicles but our patience in splitting the material bedding plane by bedding plane to produce the high- level records Erle pushed us to produce. In addition to students working on Cretaceous-focused projects, he also has a vast number of mentees who worked on a huge spectrum of other problems, ranging from Devonian conodonts to trace fossils to the stratigraphy of Bermuda. His love for a good paleontologic/ geologic problem never wavered. Related to this, Karl Flessa—back in the days when he was
looking at the number and ‘pedigree’ of paleontology positions in the US—contacted me relative to the dramatic increase in the number of CU graduates who had obtained academic jobs in the later 80s and early 90s. Although there were a few who had been advised by other faculty at CU, it was indeed predominantly what I’ll term the ‘Erle Effect’. His enthusiasm for problems was infectious and his patience in working with students was amazing, especially with someone like me who, I’msure, he felt would never be able to tell one seemingly identical species of one from another! In addition he had incredible focus—let me relate a quick story. Although I didn’t take part in this escapade because it was before my time as a PhD student, given his pro- pensity to sit in his office with his fingers always typing some- thing on the keyboard (generally his trusty blue IBMSelectric in
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those days), his students decided to see if they could rouse him. So, they installed a speaker and then used a microphone from the grad student bullpen in an attempt to startle him. Try as they might—and they tested it numerous times when he wasn’t in the office to ensure it worked—he apparently never heard a thing! In addition to his research and mentoring talents, Erle
combined that with a true love of life, and I think indirectly tried to show us students that we should work hard and play hard. As students we were often invited to his house for one of his famous pig roasts or, in the winter, potlucks, and those were always a great time largely not only for the conversation and camaraderie, but also because they usually ended with Erle pulling out his banjo and engaging us all with his witty ballads—the one that sticks in my mind is the ‘Lowstand Blues’. And this speaks to his creativity—I’m pretty sure he’s the only author who snuck a mermaid into one of this figures in JP (sorry Steve [Hageman] and Brian [Pratt], it’s too late to retract that) and has a poem devoted to sulfur-sucking symbionts in Palaios. He is a true Renaissance man and made a point to encourage the love of the things beyond paleontology, especially the arts, in his students. He also taught his students some very valuable life skills. One of those was how to feed yourself when you were hungry. His professed approach was to map all the roadkill on his way to the outcrop, and then monitor for any carcasses not on the map during the trip home; those had to be fresh! Finally, this citation would be incomplete without men-
tioning Erle’s wife and colleague, Claudia Johnson. Somehow through this all, she has been Erle’s anchor and the fact that he is here today—in all meaning of the words—reflects her tenacity in never giving up. Claudia, this award is also for you. So, in closing, here’s to you Erle—a gentleman, a true
scholar, and a true lover of all life has to offer. Fellow members of the Paleontological Society as well as guests, please join me in congratulating the recipient of the 2014 Paleontological Society Medal, Erle Galen Kauffman.
October 19, 2014
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