Steve Koppes began his writing career as a reporter for The Morning Sun in Pittsburg, Kansas. Since then he has spent most of his career as a science writer at major research universities, first at Arizona State University, then at the University of Georgia and since 1998 at the University of Chicago. His freelance articles on science and nature have appeared in publications such as the Guardian of London, the Kansas City Star and American Hiker. A native of Manhattan, Kansas, he was graduated with a bachelor’s degree in anthropology, with honors, from Kansas State University. He also holds a master’s degree from the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Kansas. He lives in Homewood, Illinois.

Inspiration for Killer Rocks from Outer Space

Geologist Robert S. Dietz inspired Steve to write Killer Rocks from Outer Space. Steve met Dr. Dietz at Arizona State University in 1985 and interviewed him regularly for scientific news reports until the latter's death in 1995.Dr. Dietz made pioneering research contributions to three distinct divisions of the geosciences: sea-floor spreading, the recognition of meteorite and asteroid impact structures on Earth, and the impact origin of the moon's surface. He also conceived and organized Project Nekton, the plan to dive to the deepest spot on the ocean floor. Project Nekton culminated on Jan. 23, 1960, when the Trieste submersible and its two-man crew dived seven miles to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean's Challenger Deep.

For more information, see:

"Robert Dietz: Rocking all over the world," by Steve Koppes, The Guardian (London), June 20, 1995.

"Memorial: Robert Sinclair Dietz (1914-1995)," by Steve Koppes, Meteoritics, Vol. 30, p. 474, 1995.

"Robert S. Dietz and the Recognition of Impact Structures on Earth," by Joanne Bourgeois and Steven Koppes, Earth Sciences History, Vol. 17, No. 2, pages 139-156, 1998.

"Memorial to Robert Sinclair Dietz, 1914-1995," by Steve Koppes, Geological Society of America Memorials,Vol. 29, pp. 25-27, December 1998

For more information about Robert S. Dietz
The Robert S. Dietz Collection at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography Archives

Article by Steve named a EurekAlert! Top 10 Science Story of 2006
Story was ranked 10th of 14,000 science stories posted on EurekAlert! in 2006.