Dan L. Mosier has over 35 years of experience as a geologist (BA, SFSU; MS, CSUH) and over 48 years of experience as a historical researcher.
He is author or coauthor of over 75 scientific papers on geology, over 50 articles on history and genealogy, and 9 books on local history, among which
include History of Tesla - A California Coal Mining Town and Alameda County Place Names. He created the once popular California
Geneaology Index website and cofounded the Norcal Genealogy Index website.
In 1970, Mosier began collecting and researching marked bricks. In 1990, while studying the bricks of the Carnegie Brick and Pottery Company,
whose brickyard was located in San Joaquin County, California, he questioned if Carnegie bricks could be distinguished
from other bricks in the absence of the brand name. Thus began his detailed study of bricks, using the book Bricks and Brickmaking
by Karl Gurcke, and using archaeological methods, which were studied under Archaeologists Phil Hines and Beth and Chris Padon. Combining
mineralogy, petrology, history, and archaeology, he devised a method of identifying the makers of bricks.
In 2001, Mosier launched the California Bricks website to publish his brick research and to help archaeologists identify bricks from
California. He has maintained a database and archives on California bricks. In 2018, he developed an app using his brick identification method
that can successfully identify the maker of an unmarked brick for the San Francisco region. This app can be used for other regions once a database is
made. In 2017, the Washington Bricks website was launched.
In 1995, Mosier was awarded the Superior Service Award by the U. S. Department of Interior for his geologic research work at the U. S. Geological Survey.
In 2011, he was nominated for the Crabtree Award for outstanding advocational archaeologist by the Society for American Archaeology. In 2013, he
was awarded the Mark Raymond Harrington Award for archaeological conservation by the Society for California Archaeology.
