Eric Fritzsch is a mineral collector (all sizes from micromounts to cabinet specimens; no tongue polished stones i.e. lapidary and no dead things--i.e. fossils). He has always been fascinated by rocks since his mother dropped him in a pile of rip rap as a baby. Eric's collection consists of over 5,800 cataloged specimens through field collecting and mostly purchases. It is arranged per locality (country or state), then anions, then species. Eric avoids collecting species that are not stable (many borates, nitrates, chlorides, pyrite, sulfur (which reacts with silver), etc). Ore minerals, unusual chemistries, hand sized samples are the collections focus. New acquisitions are generally to fill gaps or holes in the collection or whatever is interesting. Eric has been seriously collecting minerals since he was a teenager, or for about 40 years.

Eric was born in Rochester, NY where he collected dolomite out of local driveways. He was influenced by Wards, Bill Pinch, Van King, the Rochester Club and Mineralogical Symposium. After High School he attended South Dakota School of Mines (SDSM) to study under Bill Roberts where he graduated with a B.S. and M.S. in Geology. He curated the SDSM Museum of Geology mineral collection for several years in and after graduate school. He has written articles in Rocks & Minerals Magazine on the Etta Pegmatite (Keystone, SD) and co-authored the SD localities index with the late Art Grant.

Eric works as a geologist for the US Army Corps of Engineers in Omaha, Nebraska. He is a PG (professional geologist) and CHMM (certified hazardous materials manager). The Corps allows him to work a variety of jobs including working on environmental site clean up, dams, military construction, and other projects. Once in a while he even gets to see real rocks when he isn't pushing papers around.

Eric owns Upstream Minerals which sells minerals to collectors, generally at small shows in and around Nebraska. The Omaha Indian word for the town of Omaha, translates into "Upstream." Omaha is a mineralogical desert so he has to travel to satisfy his mineralogical curiosities. Hayden (1872) said "There are no minerals that can be worked to advantage in this state."

In 2017 and 2023 he joined Mindat on a trips to the Kola Peninsula, Russia and Southern Madagascar. These trips were a lot of fun and got us to places you'd never be able to get into on your own. My wife and I will definitely go on another Mindat trip. Who really needs the crowds and hassle of visiting the Eifel Tower or the fake world of Disney--go see the mines and experience the countries of specimens in your collection.

Eric attends Tucson, Denver, and other large mineral shows/ symposiums every year. Eric lives by the motto "Collect what you like; Like what you collect."

Eric is married to the lovely Carolyn Fritzsch (also a mineral collector/ geological engineer). They have 2 children (Ian and Devin). Ian recently graduated from Colorado School of Mines with an engineering physics major (2023). Devin is a junior at Washburn University and is studying business.