Author Biography
Darrel Hess began teaching geography at City College of San Francisco in 1990 and served as chair of the Earth Sciences Department from 1995 to 2009. After earning his bachelor's degree in geography at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1978, he served for two years as a teacher in the Peace Corps on Jeju Island, Korea. Upon returning to the United States, he worked as a writer, photographer, and audio visual producer. His association with Tom McKnight began as a graduate student at UCLA, where he served as one of Tom's teaching assistants. Their professional collaboration developed after Darrel graduated from UCLA with a master's degree in geography in 1990. He first wrote the Study Guide that accompanied the fourth edition of Physical Geography: A Landscape Appreciation, and then the Laboratory Manual that accompanied the fifth edition. Darrel continues to author the Laboratory Manual, along with the California Edition of this book, now in its fourth incarnation. In 1999 Tom asked Darrel to join him as coauthor of the textbook. Darrel was the 2014 recipient of the American Association of Geographers (AAG) Gilbert Grosvenor Geographic Education Honors. As did Tom, Darrel greatly enjoys the outdoor world. Darrel and his wife, Nora, are avid hikers, campers, and scuba divers.
