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Ellen Bishop

An accomplished geologist, photographer, environmental advocate, and teacher, Ellen Morris Bishop is passionate about Oregon's geology. She holds a Ph.D. in Geology from Oregon State University, has researched Oregon's most ancient terranes, authored three books for the general public, including award-winning In Search of Ancient Oregon, and published multiple technical publications. She presently teaches and develops geology programs at Columbia Gorge Community College, and is Programs Director at the Oregon Paleo Lands Institute. Her photographic images portray the Northwest's most geologically-telling landscapes. She lives in Central Oregon with her husband and 3 dogs.

Author's Entries

  • Abert Rim

    Abert Rim rises from the desert floor in southern Lake County like a giant, looming wall. It is one of the most formidable and longest fault scarps in Oregon, extending more than thirty miles from its southern end near Valley Falls north to Alkali Lake. At its greatest height, Abert …

    Oregon Encyclopedia

  • Alvord Desert

    The Alvord Desert, east of the Pueblo Mountains and Steens Mountain and north of the towns of Andrews and Fields, is among the largest playa lakes in Oregon. Playa lakes are formed when rainwater fills shallow, round depressions in the landscape, leaving behind precipitated salt minerals on the earth’s crust …

    Oregon Encyclopedia

  • Greenhorn Mountains

    Located between John Day and the Elkhorn Mountains, the Greenhorn Mountains are a low uplift within the Blue Mountains. Their highest point is Vinegar Hill, at 8,300 feet. The town of Greenhorn, at 6,300 feet in elevation, is Oregon’s highest incorporated city. It served as a gold-rush boomtown from …

    Oregon Encyclopedia

  • John Day Fossil Beds National Monument

    John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, established in October 1975, showcases one of the world’s best and most continuous records of the Cenozoic (the past 66 million years) that is generally regarded as the Age of Mammals. The fossils found in the National Monument’s three units helped define the evolution …

    Oregon Encyclopedia

  • Strawberry Mountains

    The Strawberry Mountains—among the highest peaks in the Blue Mountain Range—extend east-west through northeast Oregon in Grant County, south of the John Day Highway in the Malheur National Forest. Along with the Aldrich Mountains to the west, the Strawberry Mountains have been uplifted and shoved north along the now-inactive John …

    Oregon Encyclopedia