[1][2] He attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and received his BS degree in 1949 and his MS in 1951.
[1] He continued his graduate studies at the Colorado School of Mines and received his DS in 1953 on the geology of the Independence Range in northern Elko County, Nevada.
He worked for Bethlehem Steel in Venezuela 1949–50, New World Exploration Company 1951–54, University of Illinois 1954, Dartmouth College 1954–79 and Hawaiian Volcano Observatory 1979–84.
He established the Center for the Study of Active Volcanoes (CSAV) at the University of Hawaii at Hilo in 1989.
Joann accompanied him on many trips around the world including his initial work at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, where he served as Scientist-in-Charge from 1979–84.