Born in Connecticut in 1943 and grew up in California. Graduated from UC Berkeley in 1967. Served as a Peace Corps volunteer in south India (Tamilnadu) growing rice 1967-70. Met my future wife, Pauline, a Dutch national with the Netherlands embassy, in Singapore in 1972. Worked as a ‘doodlebugger’ in Indonesia 1971-75. Traveled throughout SE Asia photographing Hindu and Buddhist temples and, of course, the photogenic people. Published a book about these travels in 2023 (see ‘Publications’). Returned to California in 1975. Then Pauline and I started a family.
We soon moved to Texas in 1980 to continue my career in oil exploration. Worked for a navigation company, then a geophysical company, then a major oil company, and, finally, my own geodesy consultancy (Hydrometronics LLC) until 2021 (when officially terminated). Earned a graduate degree in mathematics along the way. Pauline earned a BSN, and an RN, and nursed at Methodist Hospital for 12 years.
Currently, I am a Texas Master Naturalist, an aspiring bird photographer, an erstwhile camper-van voyager (during COVID), a catastrophic e-biker (with broken ribs to show for it), in short, fully retired now. Pauline is also retired, also a Texas Master Naturalist and an avid nature enthusiast. Our three adult sons are off doing their own things on and between the east and west coasts.
I meditate (Advaita) and enjoy the eclectic discussion sessions at my H.D. Thoreau Unitarian-Universalist congregation. Leaning toward Buddhism nowadays.
(See my professional bio in the Geodesy section for more details, if interested.)
Why this website?
Sometime during COVID I donated most of my technical library (five large boxes of books and papers) to Texas A&M University… and haven’t looked back since. There are many ways to do retirement. Mine has been to allow all those other interests suppressed by a professional career to flourish.
This website has four divisions:
- The Geodesy ‘block’ preserves all the technical papers previously hosted on my Hydrometronics website, which (remarkably) are still downloaded at a rate of 4 per week (2025 average). Two (or three?) of these papers are cited in Wikipedia articles on cartography, thus some of the traffic.
- The Life & Letters ‘block’ contains many talks I’ve given on various topics (sometimes obscure, sometimes controversial), a paper on my longtime hobby (the undeciphered Indus Valley script), and a PowerPoint on my 16-day trek to the Mount Everest base camp in 1969.
- The Publications ‘block’ allows one to view the two books I self-published in late 2023, “Texas Egrets in Flight” and “Asian Travels 1967-75”. Both are available on Amazon as paperbacks. Maybe another will follow!
- The Photography ‘block’ is ultimately intended to be a repository for my most creative photos, an aspiration for sure. I’ve posted on Flickr (www.flickr.com/photos/ndzinn/) since 2019 at a rate of about one per day, and it’s time to up my game. This ‘block’ is currently populated by Flickr photos. Stay tuned!
Noel’s contact: ndzinn@fastmail.com