Descriptive Entry
This accession consists of the professional correspondence of Tom Simkin, Curator of Petrology and Volcanology, 1972-2003, and Senior Geologist and Volcanologist, 2003-2009. Simkin also served as Geologist, Smithsonian Oceanographic Sorting Center, 1967-1972. Major topics covered in this accession include the creation and revision of This Dynamic Planet - World Map of Volcanoes, Earthquakes, and Plate Tectonics; manuscripts, articles, and other publications; research projects, especially in the Galapagos Islands and on the Island of Skye; and revisions to exhibitions, including the Physical Geology Hall, the Hall of Mineralogy and Meteorites, the Glacial Geology Hall, Volcano Watch: Maurice and Katia Krafft and the Smithsonian, Our Changing Land, and those reviewed by the Exhibits Committee.
A large portion of the records also document the Charles Darwin Foundation for the Galapagos Isles, an international not-for-profit organization that provides scientific research and technical information and assistance to ensure the proper preservation of the Galapagos Islands. The Smithsonian Institution is an institutional member and Simkin served as Secretary of the Americas. In addition to his own correspondence, Simkin was often copied on the correspondence of other officers as well Smithsonian Institution staff, including Secretary Sidney Dillon Ripley, one of three founding council members, and Marsha E. Sitnik, Program Manager, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Science, who also served as Executive Secretary of the Foundation.
Some records were created while Simkin was assigned to the Division of Petrology and Volcanology within the Department of Mineral Sciences. Other records were created prior to Simkin's career at the Smithsonian Institution.
Materials include correspondence, memoranda, notes, reports, meeting materials, exhibition scripts, clippings, manuscripts, brochures, maps, research images, object images, bibliographies, postcards, newsletters, ephemera, and related materials.
