NEW: Come see my snowy panorama of ISU HERE!

Welcome to beautiful Pocatello, Idaho, home of Idaho State University, where I serve on the Computer Science faculty in the College of Engineering. The photos are for viewing only, but you are quite welcome to send links to the photos anywhere in the universe, or make direct links to the photos! I shuffle the images once in a while, so if you wonder where your favorite image went, please try searching for it. Currently the images (except a few most recent ones) are shown in random order. Comments are appreciated, but sometimes I may not see them for a long time. Thanks for visiting!

For pictures of places near Pocatello such as Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and Arches National Parks, City of Rocks National Reserve, Lava Hot Springs, Soda Springs, Great Salt Lake, and Massacre Rocks State Park, see this gallery.

Please note that clicking on the thumbnails gives you a larger version of the photo. Once the larger photo is visible, you can further select various display sizes by clicking on the appropriate word underneath the photo.

I have 6 prints on permanent display at the Pocatello Regional Airport, so you might want to look for them in case you plan on air travel!

If you are interested in purchasing a print or otherwise using a photograph, please contact me at vkantabu@computer.org or (208) 251-4368. Some photos may not be printable or saleable. Thanks.

AIR AND MERCURY POLLUTION ALERT!! Being situated in a valley, the Pocatello area does have a tendency to have air pollution problems. In recent years (except this exceptionally dry winter season), the air has been cleaner. But all of a sudden Power County next door is planning to put a Coal-Burning Power Plant at the old FMC site!! See article at http://www.journalnet.com/articles/2005/03/10/opinion/opinion01.txt

Many people don't believe that these so-called "clean" coal-burning plants are nearly as clean as their advocates are claiming. And even if they are relatively clean, please note that many of us Bannock County residents believe that we are already at our limit of tolerance when it comes to air pollution! Such air pollution as shown in a photo of mine in this gallery (see https://pbase.com/vkantabu/image/40660709) is believed to cause nasty sinus infections in many of us that last for weeks, sometimes months, each year! Please, we need the air to be cleaner, not dirtier!! Please read this article I just found on Oct 14, 2005 ... http://webcenter.health.webmd.netscape.com/content/Article/113/110585.htm?pagenumber=1

NEW ARTICLE FROM MY ALMA MATER, THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY I usually don't bother to read The Johns Hopkins Magazine, but tonight I picked it up and saw an eye-catching title, "Bad Air Days Cause Increase in Hospital Admissions." Well, of course, I thought. Isn't that an obvious result? But when I read it, it turned out to be another surprising discovery by a Hopkins faculty. Quoting the article, "RESEARCHERS WERE SURPRISED AT HOW RAPIDLY INCREASES IN HOSPITAL ADMISSIONS FOLLOWED INCREASES IN AIR POLLUTION LEVELS." .... "The researchers calculated that in 2002, there were 11,000 additional hospitalizations associated with 10 micrograms per cubic meter increase in PM2.5."

Mercury pollution is also a well-documented problem stemming from coal-burning power plants. Mercury pollution can cause autism in children, among other serious health problems.

I am an associate professor of computer science and electrical engineering at Idaho State University. Please see my academic Web site at http://idahostate.academia.edu/VititKantabutra.
Back East (meaning in the Eastern United States) they say that if you have an interest other than academia, then you must keep it more or less a secret. It's just not in my nature to play by rules that don't make sense, and that's why I'm out here in Wild Idaho!

NEWS September 20, 2009. Just expanded my photo collection at flickr! Please see them at http://www.flickr.com/photos/96517640@N00/


NEWS Friday, Sep 28, 2007: I started a Pocatello photo blog at http://pocatellophotoblog.blogspot.com/ Some photos are also in this gallery, but some may not be.

I also have some photos of Pocatello at Webshots and some more (along with those by other photographers) at Trekearth.com and also at Flickr.com. Speaking of Trekearth, all my photos there can be found here.

Also see my photos on Google. For example: http://picasaweb.google.com/vkantabu/RescueOnChinesePeak# and http://picasaweb.google.com/vkantabu/NWFEntries200902#
If you are interested in seeing how things looked in the mountains just east of Pocatello back in the 1970's and 80's, see http://pbase.com/vkantabu/fromdebbiebrooks

Here is a link to historical photos of Bannock County at ISU's library, made available by Karen Kearns: http://idahodocs.cdmhost.com/cdm4/browse.php?CISOROOT=/p2003coll1&CISOSTART=1,1 (Unfortunately, Karen Kearns passed away in 2012, still in her 40's.)

By the way, the blue background of these pages is actually Pocatello's sky color sampled from a photograph I took on a clear day.