We are all extremely busy fulfilling our primary missions of teaching and research.  Despite our desire to be helpful to the public, the reality is that none of us have much spare time to identify samples.  Therefore, if you have a sample that you want identified, the most likely way to get a response is the following:

1. Take a couple of well-lit (indirect natural light is best), sharply focused, high resolution photos.  It is hard to identify samples from photos alone, so it is crucial that the photos be sharp and with natural colors!
2. E-mail 1 to 3 of your best photos to geodept@pitt.edu.  These photos will be sent out to the faculty, post-doctoral researchers, and graduate students in the hope that one of them will have the time to respond.  (We can’t guarantee a response, since each of us has a never-ending series of deadlines related to teaching, research, and grants. We must  meet these deadlines to fulfill our primary missions of teaching and research.)

We are unlikely to return phone calls asking for sample identifications because we simply cannot identify rocks over the phone, and we generally do not have the time to drive out to take a look at specimens.  The most efficient thing is to send in photos; if a specimen looks really interesting, we might then make arrangements for closer examination.