LC grad explored Alaskan oil fields

Mark Reimers
Tribune reporter

Gerald Van Kooten

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Almost every kid has a rock collection at some point. Gerald Van Kooten’s job is to help people rediscover their inner geologist -- at least, that’s what he tells his students at Calvin College.
  Van Kooten, a 1969 graduate of Lynden Christian High School, rediscovered his interest in rocks when he attended Calvin College himself for two years. The school didn’t offer a geology major at the time, so he transferred to the University of Washington to finish his bachelor’s degree.
  He and his wife Jan both attended graduate school at Arizona State University, and Van Kooten then earned his Ph.D. at the University of California-Santa Barbara.
  Van Kooten was also awarded a Fulbright scholarship to study geology at Ruhr University in northern Germany.
  The geology students he worked with sometimes used unorthodox means of obtaining rock samples. Van Kooten remembers one day they were hiking an area looking for samples of a certain type of volcanic rock. They were at first unsuccessful, until one student noticed a farmer harvesting potatoes nearby. Along with the potatoes, the man’s machine pulled up scores of the very rocks they needed.
  “We spent the rest of our time following the farmer,” Van Kooten said. “He didn’t even pay attention to us, but I’m sure we got a reputation after that.
  After his schooling, Van Kooten was hired by oil company ARCO. He worked for three years in Dallas and two in Denver, where he was among the earliest to study the potential of geothermal energy -- only recently attracting more interest from energy developers.
  “We even proposed a well in Nevada,” he said. However, company officials considered it to be too large an investment and quit the effort in 1985.
  He chose Alaska as his next location.
  “If you enjoy the outdoors, that’s the place,” Van Kooten said. “You need to have an independent streak to live there. Everywhere you look, it’s like a postcard.”
  Van Kooten worked as a developmental geologist for the company, exploring new fields and helping extend reserves for oil drilling.
  Since his job required him to go to places difficult to access, he spent long periods on board base ships, although sometimes he was able to lease out-of-season hunting lodges in the area.
  Van Kooten learned to appreciate Alaskans -- especially people with airplanes.
  “In Alaska, it’s good to have friends with airplanes,” he said.
  In 2000, Van Kooten retired from his position with ARCO and started private consulting.
  After filling a one-year teaching and research position at Calvin College, Van Kooten accepted a full-time position there in 2004 and moved from Alaska with his family.
  Van Kooten said teaching college students at Calvin is one of the best jobs he could have.
  “It’s license to be eccentric,” he said. “The students are looking for someone who is passionate about their field.”
  Throughout his life, Van Kooten’s connection to Lynden has not faded. His father Dale passed away two years ago, just shortly after he was able to hear his son give a lecture in Lynden on Hurricane Katrina. His mother Millie still lives in Lynden.
  The Van Kootens have two daughters, Crystal and Kara, and both attended Calvin College.  
  E-mail Mark Reimers at reporter@lyndentribune.com.