Kenneth Bird
May 13, 1939-April 23, 2025
Palo Alto, California
Kenneth Bird passed away peacefully at home in Palo Alto on April 23, 2025 at 85 years old. Ken’s professional geological career is legendary. During his senior year at Oregon State University, Ken was hired by Shell as a summer intern to participate in geological field investigations in northern Alaska. A year later, during continued work with Shell, he was injured in an Alaska North Slope rockfall leading to a life-long disability. Ken then spent 5 years completing M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in geology at the University of Wisconsin followed by 45 years exploring Alaska for the oil industry and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). His scientific leadership in highly visible and politically volatile USGS projects, including petroleum-resource assessments of the Arctic National Wildlife (ANWR), National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR-A), non-federal lands, and the global Arctic contributed substantially to a deep understanding of the geological history and petroleum-resource potential of those regions.
Ken’s encyclopedic knowledge of the geology and petroleum potential of Arctic Alaska and adjacent regions is summarized in more than 200 formal publications, including definitive publications on ANWR, NPR-A, and huge parts of the Arctic Ocean. A renowned speaker, Ken presented hundreds of talks at geological conventions, university lectures, and oil-industry and public workshops. Ken frequently was called upon by the USGS to present congressional testimony and briefings to the Department of the Interior (DOI), and the Department of Energy. The patience and credibility with which Ken explained politically sensitive topics to mainly nontechnical audiences invariably reflected positively upon the USGS. Consequently, Ken received the Meritorious Service Award from DOI and several additional awards from the USGS. An inspiring, patient, and generous mentor, Ken guided countless geoscientists through careers in Alaska geology. And, perhaps most importantly, all those geologists are proud to call Ken their friend!
Ken had a remarkable intellectual curiosity that he maintained throughout his life. He was a voracious reader who loved nonfiction books exploring topics as diverse as politics, history, geology, travel, and current events, and delighted in engaging in lively conversations around all of these topics. He was a respected neighbor in his Triple El community in Palo Alto, where he lived in his beloved home for approximately 40 years. Ken spent his last decade giving generously to philanthropic causes he was passionate about, including the hospice organization Pathways, who supported him at the end of his life, and during that of his late wife Patricia Bird. He is survived by his two daughters, Sorrel Hanson and Marlyss Anderson, and two stepchildren, Karen Kienzle and Jonathan Kienzle, all of whom fondly remember his adventurous excursions with them, including impromptu fossil explorations by the side of the road during family road trips.
