Alan Trujillo

Al recently retired from teaching oceanography and Earth sciences at Palomar Community College in San Marcos, California, where he was a Distinguished Teaching Professor and co-Director of the Oceanography Program for more than 30 years. He received his bachelor’s degree in geology from the University of California at Davis and his master’s degree in geology from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona.

Al is a co-author of two leading college-level oceanography textbooks: Essentials of Oceanography and Introductory Oceanography and is also a contributing author for two Earth science textbooks: Earth and Earth Science. In 2012, Essentials of Oceanography, 10th Edition, was awarded the Textbook and Academic Author’s Association “Texty” Award for textbook excellence, and in 2017, Essentials of Oceanography, 12th Edition, was awarded the Textbook and Academic Author’s Association McGuffey Award for textbook longevity.

In addition to teaching and writing, Al has worked since 1991 as a naturalist for Lindblad Expeditions in southeast Alaska, Iceland, and the Sea of Cortez/Baja California. Since 2018 he also has worked as a naturalist and guest presenter on larger cruise ships in Central and South America, the South Pacific, Alaska, Kamchatka, and Japan. As a hobby, he collects sand from around the world.