Today's Featured Biography

 
Eldon Gemmill

Graduated 1968 frm Millersville: BS Biology/Math; 1971 Univ. of MD: MS Plant Biochemistry; Licensed Pilot, Certified Scuba & Underwater Photography

1969: Canoed the entire Allagash Waterway & Lake System in Northern Maine; 1970: Canoed 2,400 mi.(last half alone) across western Canada to the Arctic Ocean; 1971: Summited 3 Canadian Arctic Peaks, 2 approx. 17,000 ft (photo above) incl first ever traverse of the S face of Mt. Steele (a 7,000 ft high, near vertical wall of ice & snowpack); 1972: Crossed (700 mi) up over the Mackenzie Mtns via canoe (above Arctic Circle)

Settled down a little & married Lois Kretsch in 1972. We recommissioned an old 41 foot Norwegian Sloop, lived aboard her and sailed the Chesapeake for a few years. Then came along two daughters, both now Federal Employees (one is a PhD - Economist for Medicare, one a Foreign Food Imports Inspection Officer, Port of Baltimore - FDA) No grandchildren yet!

1975: purchased 400 acre mountain farm in WV, cleared & fenced it etc. and raised sheep & beef cattle + established a deer hunting & guiding operation there; Also, set up a contracting business with the Corps of Engineers that provided employment for 8 local persons. 1989: sold out & moved to Maryland & started a job as a watershed manager & geomorphologist for Baltimore County Dep't of the Environment - way easier than farming!

1990's: Canoed the entire Wild Nahanni river (class 3 & 4 whitewater) N. Western Canada with oldest daughter; canoed upriver into remote wilderness area of Central American Rainforest looking for Mayan ruins- not explored for a hundred years. No ruins, but found the real Crystal Skull, - Indianna had it wrong! - deep in a secret cave under a mountain, accessable only, you guessed it, by canoe!; 1994: Put together a team to go to Kazakhstann to teach modern sheep husbandry, grazing management, & lamb & wool grading & marketing, and business management to their farm coops in two oblasts. Our lecture series was televised nationwide there. This was part of a federally funded technology transfer program aimed at assisting their agricultural economies and developing cooperative relationships with these old Soviet Countries after the Soviet Break-up.;
2000: Organized & led 300 mi expedition via. dugout, + overland on foot & canoe thru unexplored wilderness area of So. American Jungle (Guyana)- funding by a grant frm Gortex. Accompanied by 4 Wai Wai indians - a remote tribe there who still use poison arrows and hunt with fierce dogs.

2006: Teamed with two Maryland wastewater engineers & designed an a prototype, high efficiency, biological process (no chemicals) wastewater treatment plant for a large dive resort on the island of Bonaire. This small island is ringed by one of the healtiest and most diverse coral reefs in the Caribbean, but sewage leachate coming from development there is threatening the reefs. A small plant was built by our design to help protect the reefs and has proved the most effective system on the Island. We presented these results during the 2008 Int'l AWWA Conference coinciding with the Int'l Year of the Reef. We continue to monitor and fine tune this facility. This was entirely a volunteer effort at no cost to the Island.; More details are available on some of the above stuff via. doing a "Bing" websearch.

2007: Retired from the County. Nowadays, spend August in the Canadian Rockies, part of winters in the Dutch Carribean, and the Fall in Atlantic Canada. Remainder of time in Maryland.
I also, waste an inordinate amount of time fly fishing for trout & salmon, mountain biking, messin with rock & dirt, & wearin out hand tools. Still putter around the old family farm in Lower Chanceford & still married to Lois who still puts up with me.

VIEW ALL BIOGRAPHIES