Although it can't be definitively said, it is quite possible that Fran Hein might just literally love rocks. Her passion for geology is obvious to anyone who has worked with her, and her knowledge of the geology of Alberta's oil sands area is encyclopaedic. This passion for geology has taken her, at various times, from Canada's east coast to the west coast of the United States to Canada's northern coast. It has infected the students she has supervised in her many university positions, as well as with the colleagues she has worked.