Welcome to the Mindat homepage of Capt. Paul, Geologist Extraordinaire (a.k.a. Paul Brandes).

So what's my story...

Well, I have been collecting minerals since I was very little in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan where I was raised. When the time came to figure out what I wanted to do in life I decided to turn my love of minerals and geology into a career so I attended college and earned my graduate degree in Geology with minors in Mining and History.

I worked at one time as an Independant Consultant for the mining and minerals industry, which had taken me across North America as well as other parts of the world. I also worked for a small consulting company in Las Vegas, Nevada for a short time before the weirdness of "Sin City" caught up. Currently, I work for the State of Texas as a Special Investigator in Environmental Quality, but I still do some geologic and mineral consulting work as side projects (I didn't go completely to the darkside of environmental).

I am still an avid collector of minerals, rocks, and ore deposit specimens from the Great Lakes Region of North America, specifically those of the Copper Country (Keweenaw Peninsula) in Upper Michigan which I try to visit at least every couple years or so. If anyone has questions or comments concerning the geology, mineralogy, or scenic beauty of the Keweenaw Peninsula or Upper Michigan in general, please send me a private message or visit the chatroom as I am there most evenings under the username "CaptPaul".