Amid the shock and devastation left over from the tsunami that struck Southeast Asia Dec. 26, concerns raised about the safety of two faculty members in the UA department of planetary sciences, who had not been heard from since the tsunami hit.

Roger Yelle, professor of planetary sciences, and his wife, Caitlin Griffith, an associate professor of planetary sciences, were on a cycling vacation in the mountains of northern Thailand when the tsunami occurred.

Roger Yelle professor of planetary sciences

However, Yelle and Griffith finally got in touch with family and their UA colleagues this week, unaware of the disaster that surrounded them, said Virginia Smith, a budget analyst for the UA's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory.

"They didn't know about the tsunami or the concern about them because they were in remote parts of the country," Smith said.

Caitlin Griffith associate professor of planetary sciences

She said both Yelle and Griffith made it out of Thailand unscathed, are now in Germany on business and expect to be back Monday as planned.

Yelle and Griffith left Tucson on Christmas, flew to Bangkok, Thailand, and took a bus into rural Thailand, leaving family and colleagues worried but not too concerned since the couple had no means of communication from the beginning, said Joan Weinberg, manager of academic affairs for the department of planetary sciences and the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory.

Weinberg said people blew the story out of proportion after the Arizona Daily Star reported last week that the professors were missing and had not been heard from. She said the couple planned on little to no contact with friends and family and are expected to return as scheduled.