John Compton received his PhD in Earth Science from Harvard University in 1986 and taught at the School of Marine Science, University of South Florida before moving to the Department of Geo-logical Sciences, University of Cape Town (UCT) in 1996.

At UCT he taught a first-year introductory course on Earth and environmental sciences and, in collaboration with students and colleagues, he has published over 60 papers spanning a wide range of research topics. He is now emeritus and continues to work on various research projects, as well as publishing natural history books (visit johnscompton.com