John S. Shelton
La Jolla, California

A geologist filled with a love for music and machines, John Shelton is best known for his pioneering aerial photography. Formerly associate professor of geology at Pomona College, John has always been intensely interested in the process of learning. He feels the earth sciences are relevant to all of us on the planet, and the best way to understand how Earth has evolved is to get out into the field. John’s love of flying enables him to reveal geologic features and processes through his aerial photographs of wondrous landscapes. John is author of Geology Illustrated, a life-changing book for many students. His aerial photographs of North America are especially valuable today, when diminishing air quality makes some of them irreplaceable.

Most elementary geological truths are best discovered and explored where geology is—in the field—while looking at the evidence.... We take a step toward this ideal by using photographs of localities that might be visited and, so far as practicable, treating these scenes as prime sources of information.