Coolrox: Meet the Staff

Welcome to my rock shop! I am Andrew Romeo (shown above with son Nathan) and I have designed this web site to sell some of the rocks I have collected (and recently purchased) over the past 20 years. I started collecting rocks as a kid and eventually got a Bachelor of Science in Geology from the University of Florida.

Our six week field school (field camp) in New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona and Utah really got me hooked on Geology. I soon found out that book learning and lab work are one thing, but being out in the woods, clambering over an outcrop, surveying an area from a high point, and collecting, throwing and learning about rocks are the reasons I was really into Geology.

The most monumental "hook, line and sinker" reason why I am a Geologist was a 6 week trip to the Juneau Icefield in Juneau, Alaska with the Foundation for Glacier and Environmental Research (JIRP).

This trip involved hiking from Juneau through a temperate rainforest and then skiing 120 miles to the shore of Lake Atlin, British Columbia, Canada. On the expedition of high school and college scholars, I studied the phenomena of slickensides. You can learn more about slickensides in my abstract.

Besides collecting rocks and trying to identify them at 50-mph along road cuts, there is a demand for geologists. This demand touches our lives every day. Everything we use is either mined or grown...geologists are, to some degree, responsible for the white in your toothpaste, the steel in your cars, the gemstones on your rings, the salt on your table, your drinking water, fuel for your electric plants, and so much more.

Since graduation in 1994, I worked as an Project Geologist for a small environmental clean-up company. This job entailed sampling soil, surface water, and groundwater (by nose, expensive meter, or lab analysis). The company I worked for was under contract to the Army Corps of Engineers who paid for clean-ups at Military bases. We remediated grounds impacted by leaking fuel tanks, leaking solvent tanks, and heavy metal contaminated soils. Travel was moderate, both in-state and throught the southeast. Computer experience was beneficial for drafting site maps, tabulating data, and writing reports. Geological experience was limited to soil science, and contaminate flow through water, but fundamentals of the scientific method and adaptability were important.

My next two jobs have been in the mining industry as an Exploration Geologist, then Mine Planning Geologist, and now a Mine Geologist. All these jobs have relied upon the fundamentals of geologist and a sincere interest in applying geology as needed to the position. The jobs entail traveling in the US and overseas searching for mineral sand desposits. Computer experience was beneficial in drafting, writing reports, and number-crunching. Skills I gained at this job included using a GPS, working in 3-D modeling software, performing grid arithmetic, doing large format plotting, and working with aerial photos and digital terraines. Geological experience was in grass roots exploration, application of sedimentological models, drilling, sampling and modeling stratigraphy ore. Additional work is responsible for outlining how a mine is created and how it progresses. With hundreds of tons of earth being mined each day (and subsequently restored) the responsibility for environmental stewardship and technique optimization is key. While this field is often headed by mining engineerings, a geological background, hands-on field methods and computer learning allow for advancement.

Geology isn't the only thing in my life. My favorite TV shows include the Simpsons and Survivor, I love Latin & Italian food, also dig bike riding, camping and hiking. My computer takes a back seat to my wife Jennifer and son Nathan.

Thanks for visiting, buy more rocks than you can afford! - and if you have any comments, e-mail me at sales1@coolrox.com.