ICS presents prestigious Digby McLaren Medal to Cincinnati's Carl Brett

It is completely fitting that Carl Brett should receive the award named after someone who was known for his passion and advocacy, for those are two things that Carl brings to his teaching and research. Even in an interview intended to focus on an award he is about to receive (ahem), he is thinking about his students and his studies. And what could be a better testimonial to his dedication?

Carl Brett's influence began early: His father, Wesley Brett, was a professor of design and art at the University of New Hampshire and later at the State University College at Buffalo.

"Dad was a wonderful teacher," Brett exclaims. Clearly that teaching bug was passed from father to son. He was a wonderful craftsman, too, as evidenced by a beautiful cabinet that Carl proudly displays in his office. An intricate set of drawers opens every which way, until one gets to the bottom drawer, which seems to be the most perplexing — and opens straight out.

"The cabinet is his metaphor about unlocking the mysteries of nature. Notice how the numbering of the drawers seems chaotic until you open them, then the code becomes clear as 1, 2 and 3 swing left; 4, 5 and 6 stay put; and 7, 8 and 9 swing right," Brett explains.

"As for the bottom drawer," he adds with a laugh, "I think my father was saying not to overthink things, some things that look most complex are really simple."

Brett's family moved from New Hampshire to Buffalo, N.Y., when he was about 10 years old so that his father could teach at Buffalo State College.

"I came from a granite state, so I had never seen fossils," he says. "The only clams I had ever seen were live ones at the shore. I picked up that first slab in my back yard and saw an imprint of a clam shell — I was so excited!"

When he was a senior in high school, Brett competed in the New York State science fair with a trilobite project and won, going all the way to the top and winning the top prize in the state.

"I decided 'This is what I will do — I want to work on fossils and I want to teach,'" Brett says.

No clams, but the burrows of 430-million-year-old worms. These specimens were found on a student field trip in Niagara Gorge. Click here for more information.

And teach he does. Besides teaching in the classroom, Brett is well known for teaching on location.