John V. E. Hansen is in charge of 
clothing, equipment, and materials re- 
search at the U.S. Army Natick Re- 
search and Development Laboratories 
in Natick, Massachusetts. The labora- 
tory develops clothing and protective 
items that enhance the capability of 
U.S. soldiers to operate in all kinds of 
environments around the world. Han- 
sen has a bachelor’s degree in chemi- 
cal engineering and has done graduate 
work in business administration. Dur- 
ing the past nine years his duties have 
taken him from “Alaska to Arabia and 
from Ghana to Sweden.” 
Jane C. Nylander, curator of textiles 
and ceramics at Old Sturbridge Vil- 
lage, Massachusetts, has been reading 
early New Englanders’ diaries and let- 
ters for fifteen years. From these and 
other literary sources she has gained a 
knowledge of the past that enhances 
the accuracy of historic house restora- 
tion and interpretation. A graduate of 
Brown University and the University 
of Delaware, Nylander is at present 
researching the textiles of eighteenth- 
and nineteenth-century New England. 
A meteorologist by profession, v/ith 
a So 0 >n the <mb|ect Edwin Kessler is 
q fq.-m<=r gardener, and apiarist in his 
free t'me. Director of the National 
Severe Storms 1 aboratory of the Na- 
tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad- 
ministration in Norman, Oklahoma, 
Kessler lives on a farm and commutes 
to work. His farm has cows, chickens, 
a garden, and an orchard. He also 
grows rice in a 734-square-foot paddy. 
‘1 have a nice view,” Kessler says, 
“and in addition the night sky is dark 
and is excellent for star gazing.” 
Colin High was born in London and 
received his B.S. and Ph.D. in geogra- 
phy and earth science from the Uni- 
versity of Bristol. He moved perma- 
nently to the United States in 1973 
because, he says, “it’s nice here.” He is 
now an associate professor of engineer- 
ing and environmental studies at the 
Resource Policy Center of the Thayer 
School of Engineering at Dartmouth 
College. The center conducts research 
on the public and private use of such 
natural resources as forests, water, and 
energy. High’s house in New Hamp- 
shire is heated exclusively with wood. 
It does not have a fireplace but does 
have an efficient wood-burning stove. 
6 
