Dr. Philip M. Astwood

Phil is a retired Research Professor of Geological Sciences and a former director of the Center. While an active member of the faculty he taught GEOL 103 "Environment of the Earth" and a variety of courses in earth, marine and environmental science that had been specifically designed for in-service teachers. Phil also worked on a number of grant-funded programs that supported the teaching of earth and environmental science in elementary and middle school.

Currently Phil works as a program evaluator in partnership with John and Charlie Carpenter at Palmetto Educational Consultants. Phil graduated from Colby College in Maine with a degree in Geology and received Masters and PhD degrees in Geology from the University of South Carolina. He joined the Center and the Department of Geological Sciences in 1986 and retired in 2006.

Phil lives in an old Belk Department Store in Newberry which he and his wife Valarie bought a few years ago. Their son Owen works as a geologist of S&ME in Columbia. Their daughter Heather, who also has an MS in Geology from USC, works for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. She is currently assigned to the International Atomic Energy Agency in Austria.