Dear Friends:

After 34 distinguished years at UC Santa Cruz, Professor Casey Moore retired from the full-time faculty at the end of the 2006-07 academic year. Casey created a tremendous body of research in the field of structural geology, which he will very actively continue for years to come. His knowledge, enthusiasm, and patience have touched the lives of hundreds of students. Casey's former students and UCSC's Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences recently celebrated his career with a symposium and announcement of the Casey Moore Fund for the Earth Sciences.

On April 11-12, 2008 more than 60 of Casey's friends, colleagues, and former students gathered in Santa Cruz for a symposium, a field trip, and - of course - a party. Folks heard excellent presentations on hot topics in subduction zone research by distinguished former students and colleagues from around the globe. Dr. John Wakabayasi of CSU Fresno led a field trip to Franciscan localities. And the party at a local organic barbeque restaurant really rocked! Caseyfest was a great event and a real tribute to Casey's intellectual and personal impact on this students and colleagues. You can view the schedule for the symposium by clicking here, and view photos of the event by clicking here.

We also surprised Casey at the symposium by announcing the launch of the J. Casey Moore Fund for Earth Sciences, a permanent endowment to honor his career and personal legacy.

This fund was the brainchild of Casey's students (in particular Demian Saffer, Mike Underwood, Harold Tobin, Tim Byrne). Over about six months, they quietly worked to build support, largely from Casey's former students and also from current and emeritus faculty at UCSC. Through the generosity of Casey's students, friends, and colleagues, the fund is currently endowed at greater than $40,000.

After the event, we discussed with Casey how he wanted this permanent endowment to be used. In the near term, the fund will support targeted grants for graduate and undergraduate research projects. Our immediate goal is to build the fund to at least $50,000 so that we can offer 3 or 4 grants next year. As the fund grows, the number and size of these grants will increase proportionately. If it grows considerably, we will be able to support Casey's vision of making a significant difference in graduate student research. An overarching goal that Casey would like to achieve with the endowment is to provide students with funds to support exploration of ideas and research that is not so tightly linked to grants awarded to their advisers.

*Now we need your help*

We hope you will help us realize Casey's vision and honor his career by making a donation to the "UC Santa Cruz Foundation/Casey Moore Fund for Earth Sciences”. You can download a form that can be mailed in by clicking here. Or you can donate using the university’s secure website by clicking here and following the instructions. If you donate online, make sure to put “J. Casey Moore Fund for Earth Sciences” in the box labeled "I am specifically interested in supporting:"

Thank you for your consideration and for joining Casey's friends and colleagues in recognizing his legacy of excellence in research and teaching.

Sincerely,

Paul Koch, Chair, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences