DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY

1801 East Cotati Avenue 707 664 2334

Rohnert Park, CA 94928-3609 www.sonoma.edu/geology

To whom it may concern,

Joshua Brown-Herrera is an exceptional and dedicated student and teacher, who

demonstrates intelligence, a high degree of focus, and a passion for education. I met Josh during the
fall semester of 2014, when he enrolled in and excelled in my Environmental Studies and Planning
(ENSP) 303: Applied Physical Sciences course at Sonoma State University. ENSP303 helps
students develop an understanding of Earths environment and requires extensive earth science
research, scientific writing skills, and strong time management ability; all of which Josh excelled at.
It was a pleasure to read his intelligible and thoroughly researched papers. Josh demonstrates a
knack for perfectionism, his work is always excellent, and he always does his best work.
I can say with certainty that Josh has a strong foundation in Earth Science knowledge and is
prepared to teach the High School natural and life science courses. Josh is always in pursuit of
understanding concepts to his fullest capacity, and he learns new information quickly. He applied
his new Earth Science knowledge in the spring of 2015 as my ENSP303 Teachers Assistant, and he
did an amazing job. Josh interacts with his classmates and colleagues easily, and is professional,
personable, and a very hard-worker. Josh is clear in his communications and fulfills all of his
obligations on time. I appreciated his dependability, timely communication, and the passion he
brought to stressful study sessions. I grew to rely on his willingness and ability to help ENSP303
students. I observed him working with the students, and he did a great job explaining complicated
subjects, making suggestions, and helping students understand assignment goals. Josh has also
served as an unofficial tutor for many science classes, as other students naturally gravitate to him
for help. He has also completed the naturalist training at Fairfield Osborn Preserve, which gives him
teaching experience in the field to groups of children, adults, and mixed age groups.
Josh is a lifelong student because he loves knowledge, which is true of every passionate and
successful teacher. He believes that education is the great equalizer and he wants to give the gift
of knowledge to others, because he feels enriched by his own ongoing education. I know that Josh is
an amazing teacher because he truly enjoys helping others understand and appreciate the world they
live in. I have enjoyed having Josh as a student and getting to know him as a fellow
environmentalist and educator, and I know he will be as asset to your educational community.

Sincerely,

Adjunct Professor of Earth and Space Sciences at Sonoma State University: Departments of
Geology (GEOL) and Environmental Studies & Planning (ENSP) Departments
Adjunct Professor of College of Marin Earth Life Sciences Department