A Brief Biography of Clayton S. Painter
I was born in Los Alamos, NM, and I have spent about 17 years of my life in Los Alamos.
However, I have also lived in various parts within the United States and outside. When I was young I spent
a year in Troy, NY while my dad finished graduate school at RPI. I then returned to Los Alamos and remained
there until 8th grade when I spent a year in Gaithersburg, MD for a temporary position that my dad took with DOE,
and then I again returned to Los Alamos. Upon graduation from Los Alamos High School I attended one year at
New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, NM. After completing one year at NMSU
I lived for two years in various parts of north central Venezuela, where I enjoyed the culture and the country
very much.
I had very conflicting feelings when I completed my time in Venezuela and was faced
with returning to the US. Upon returning, I decided to transfer to Brigham Young University-Idaho
(BYU-I) in Rexburg, ID to complete my bachelors in a not yet determined discipline. During my first semester
at BYU-I, I enrolled in a geology course to fulfill the general education's
physical science requirement. About a third way through the semester something clicked and I realized that
geology is what had always fascinated me, but I could never before put a name to it. I had always loved the
outdoors and had frequently witnessed landforms and wondered how they came to be, but I had no idea that this was
actually a science that could be pursued. Promptly after the awakening, I declared geology as my major and
never looked back. Course work began to be more enjoyable to me than it had ever been in my life, which is a
good sign you have chosen the right major. Aside from geology, I thoroughly enjoy physics. It is also
at BYU-I where I met my wife Holly who received her bachelors in health science in December of 2004. We were
married on 17 December 2004.
While at BYU-I, I was priviledged to be able to intern two
different summers at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) where I was able to see
geology being applied to solve real problems varying from environmental cleanup to national defense. I received
his B.S. in geology in December of 2005 and returned to LANL to work a third internship, for 8 months, while I awaited
replies from various graduate schools. I decided to accept the offer given to me by the University
of Wyoming (UW) in Laramie, WY and am currently a M.S. candidate here researching under
Randi S. Martinsen in the department of
geology and geophysics.
In my free time, I enjoy backpacking, hiking, mountain biking, reading,
and playing chess, although I really am not that good at chess. A very
few photos of my outdoor experiences can be seen on my photo page. If you would like to
confirm that I really am not that good at chess you can challenge me to an online game at either of the links
below. My user name at the online chess sites is chiguire.
or
Queen Alice
or
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