Apr

Volunteer Spotlight: Dan Roe

Continuing April’s salute to Smithsonian volunteers, Volunteer Voices contributor Nikolas Wong introduces us to Dan Roe.

The National Museum of Natural History’s minerals and gem collection consists of hundreds of thousands of, you guessed it, minerals and gems. To some visitors, these specimens are simply cool rocks collected over time, but for Dan Roe, each one is an opportunity for him to share his passion with others.

Here, Dan is shown studying meteorites in the NMNH collection during a behind-the-scenes tour.
Credit: Photo courtesy of Dan Roe.

Dan Roe is a volunteer in both Q?rius and Deep Time, as well as, a Highlights Tour Docent at the museum. From the Q?rius education center to the halls of deep time, Dan enjoys engaging with the millions of visitors the museum attracts each year. He notes that one of the most enjoyable parts about volunteering is indulging visitors’ interest in understanding their natural world.

“It is particularly gratifying to engage families with children, and see parents’ happiness, as they watch their children learn and grow. Kids are the future. Whenever I get a youngster hooked on elephants, whales, evolution, dinos, fossils, climate, or anthropology, I smile to myself.”

Dan Roe surrounded by a group of students

During a school visit, Dan leads the Elephant Evolution activity at the entrance of Deep Time.
Credit: Photo courtesy of Dan Roe.

This enjoyment is especially apparent when it comes to geology, a subject that has held his interest since his childhood. Each of Dan’s Highlights Tours circles through the Geology, Gems and Minerals Hall. Much of what he shares during his tours, or in Q?rius, is a lesson learned from his personal studies and education.

After retiring from a satisfying career in marketing and sales in 2012, Dan decided to pursue his long-time passion and enrolled in geology courses at Montgomery College. As a student, he met and befriended geology professor Alan Cutler, who introduced Dan to the museum’s vast collection of gems and minerals. “He organized a ‘behind-the-scenes’ visit for us, students, to all the geology-related collections at the museum.”

Dan sits alongside his “dear friend” Charles Darwin, who is found Deep Time. He shares with us, “I’m reading ‘On the Origin of Species’ at present. It is something like the science equivalent of reading ‘War and Peace.’ Long and dense, but rich.”

Sometime after completing Montgomery College’s geology and meteorology course catalog, Dan decided to apply for a volunteer position at the museum. He officially joined the Smithsonian family in 2016. “I quickly found that the museum is a fabulous vehicle for lifelong learning and a venue for sharing knowledge with curious and engaged visitors from all over the world.”

Dan attributes his love for the natural sciences to his father, who Dan says always saw the good in others. They would spend much of their time together connecting with the great outdoors. One of their favorite activities was hiking.

Dan’s most memorable hiking experience was standing at the summit of Mt. Elbert, the highest peak in Colorado, with his father in 1973. “We’d just climbed the mountain, the sky was clear blue, and we could see for tens of miles in every direction. It was the classic ‘mountaintop experience’ and I shared it with my dad.”

Today, Dan shares his love for geology and science, which he gained from his father, with museum visitors of all ages. He still enjoys hiking when not at the museum and lives with his wife, Rosanne in the small town of Brunswick in Frederick County, Maryland. Dan says that the town is situated in the Blue Ridge province of the Appalachians. There, he enjoys seeing mountains, which he considers is a “crowning achievement of geology, every day.”

Dan in the Butterfly Pavilion in 2017. Of the image, he says, “I do use this photo on a regular basis on my Highlights Tours. As we pass the Butterfly Pavilion, it allows me to explain to visitors that inside the pavilion one is not to touch the butterflies, but they may touch you. All the visitors get a chuckle out of that.”
Credit: Photo courtesy of Dan Roe.

Nikolas Wong is a Digital Communications Strategist and FossiLab volunteer at the National Museum of Natural History. He is the author of two books, using both to lead advocacy campaigns across the state of Florida.