PlanetGeo: The Geology Podcast

By Chris and Jesse

Natural Sciences Education

What's PlanetGeo: The Geology Podcast about?

A Geology and Earth Science Podcast. Join Chris, an award-winning geology teacher, and Jesse, a geoscience professor, in discussing the amazing features of our planet and their impact on your everyday life. No prior knowledge required. New episodes coming at you every week. Listen, subscribe, share with someone you know!

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Badlands National Park

06.23.2022

Badlands National Park is a spectacular place to visit! If you are traveling to the Rocky Mountains, it is a great stop to get started. Fossils are everywhere in the Badlands National Park, and the rocks have really amazing colorations ...

PlanetGeo: The Geology Podcast episodes:

06.23.2022 Badlands National Park Badlands National Park is a spectacular place to visit! If you are traveling to the Rocky Mountains, it is a great stop to get started. Fossils are everywhere in the Badlands National Park, and the rocks have really amazing colorations ...
06.16.2022 Breakthrough Energy: Ashley Grosh After Listening back on this episode (both the short and the full interview), my wife and I had a conversation. I asked her what she thought. Her reply was that she was full of hope after listening. Join us as ...
06.09.2022 Soccer, Mining, and Investing: Ashley Grosh of Breakthrough Energy Fellows After Listening back on this episode (both the short and the full interview), my wife and I had a conversation. I asked her what she thought. Her reply was that she was full of hope after listening. Join us as ...
06.02.2022 Carbon Dating: The Method and Misconceptions People often wonder, why can't we date diamonds? Today, we answer that! Here, we talk through the basics of Carbon Dating, also called RadioCarbon Dating! Radiocarbon is an awesome technique that also has some really common misconceptions about it. We ...
05.26.2022 Geoscience News this Week! In todays episode, Jesse and Chris re-visit an idea on GeoScience in the news. This was fun for us. We didn't talk before we picked our topics. We realized that there are so many geoscience topics in the news and ...
05.19.2022 Super_Volcanoes: Dr. Robin George Andrews Join us this week for our interview of Dr. Robin George Andrews. Robin George Andrews is a freelance science journalist based in London. His work has appeared in National Geographic, The New York Times, The Atlantic, Scientific American, Gizmodo, Atlas ...
05.12.2022 Who Becomes a Volcanologist? Dr. Robin Andrews Join us this week for our interview of Dr. Robin George Andrews. Robin George Andrews is a freelance science journalist based in London. His work has appeared in National Geographic, The New York Times, The Atlantic, Scientific American, Gizmodo, Atlas ...
05.05.2022 Hiking Great Smoky Mountain National Park
04.28.2022 Great Smoky Mountain National Park The air is clearing! In this episode, we discuss the geology of Great Smoky Mountain National Park. We've been neglectful of this region of the U.S. and it's time to do these amazing mountains justice. We begin by discussing why ...
04.21.2022 Industrial Ecology and Critical Minerals: Dr. Nedal Nassar Today we have the great pleasure of talking about a very important topic, while interviewing one of the best and most interesting people we've had the pleasure of speaking with! Dr. Nedal Nassar is the Chief of the US Geological ...
04.14.2022 What is a Critical Mineral? Dr. Nedal Nassar Today we have the great pleasure of talking about a very important topic, while interviewing one of the best! Dr. Nedal Nassar is the Chief of the US Geological Survey’s Materials Flow Analysis Section, he has a PhD in Industrial ...
04.07.2022 Radon: The Unwelcome Houseguest Are you worried about Radon in your home? Here are a few valuable links to learn more about it and some resources to get a test - United States Environmental Protection Agency page United States Geological Survey FAQ United States ...
03.31.2022 Your Questions! Road Collapse in the United Kingdom (GeoShort) Thanks to our UK listener Valeria for this excellent question! Valeria wondered what was going on with road collapses in the UK recently! Luckily, some experts have looked into this and wrote this recent blog post that proposes some ideas, ...
03.24.2022 National Geographic and Geoscience Writing - Dr. Maya Wei-Haas Join us as we interview Dr. Maya Wei-Haas who works as a science journalist for National Geographic. Dr. Wei-Haas has a PhD in geoscience, has done top-tier research. In our discussion, she explains why she decided to pivot and use ...
03.17.2022 Daylight Saving Time: Interview with Dr. Maya Wei-Haas Dr. Maya Wei-Haas has an impressive CV: See below. She has a PhD in Geoscience, but now works as a science journalist for National Geographic. Dr. Wei-Haas has had to overcome some major obstacles to become a professional journalist. Join ...
03.10.2022 A Geology Bullseye: The Black Hills of South Dakota The Black Hills happens to be one of our favorite places. We thought it was the right time to talk about them as people are getting the itch for summer to arrive so we can play in the mountains. The ...
03.03.2022 Eruption, The Untold Story of Mount St. Helens: Author Steve Olson Join us as we interview science writer Steve Olson about his book Eruption: The Untold Story of Mount St. Helens. For his outstanding work on this book, he won the Washington State Book Award and was named one of the ...
02.24.2022 Modern Mount St. Helens: Author Steve Olson (GeoShort) Join us in a preview to our full interview with science writer Steve Olson! In this GeoShort, we cover the modern science of Mount St. Helens, a bit about Steve's writing career, and discuss the importance of geoscience! Tune in ...
02.17.2022 Volcanoes Around the World: Tina Neal - Director of the United States Volcano Science Center Join Jesse and Chris as we interview Christina (Tina) Neal. Tina has 38 years of experience as a volcanologist for the USGS. She is the Volcano Science Center Director and is in charge of all 5 of the U.S. volcano ...
02.10.2022 The Geology of Iridium, The Meteorite Tracker In this episode, Jesse and Chris follow up on the K-T Extinction episode from last week. Why is Iridium so important in this story? Our show notes summary is below. Why is Iridium identified in these layers? Well, it’s higher ...
02.03.2022 Meteors+Dinosaurs+Geology = Extinction! Join Jesse and Chris as we explore the hypothesis that an asteroid ended the Cretaceous AND the age of the reptiles. It's a very compelling scientific story of discovery. This has been hotly debated back and forth for a long ...
01.27.2022 Water Issues Part 4: The Geology of Hard Water (Re-Release) Chris and Jesse are recording this intro face to face in Michigan! We had a lot of fun actually recording together rather than from 600 miles apart. Join us in our final Re-release series on water. Show notes are below: ...
01.20.2022 The Volcano Heard Around the World: Literally! Join us as we interrupt our water series re-release to talk about a major current event - the eruption of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano in Tonga. It was a huge eruption in the South Pacific from a very active volcano. ...
01.13.2022 Water Issues Part 3: Dams Revisited (A Geology Re-Release) Jesse and Chris are recording face to face in Michigan. Join us as we follow the water issues theme in our re-release series. Show notes below: We liked talking about dams so much we did it again! Join our discussion ...
01.06.2022 Water Issues Part 2: Dammed if We Do, Dammed if We Don't (Geology Re-Release) This is a re-release of a much earlier episode on Dams. In our newly recorded intro, Jesse and I are in person and sitting across from each other as we give a little prelude to the episode. We also decide ...
12.30.2021 Water Issues Part 1: Where is the World's Water? (A Geology Re-Release) A geology re-release of our talk about the worlds water and the issues we face. Jesse and Chris are face to face recording this time which presented some challenges as you'll soon hear. We had fun re-capping our water episode ...
12.23.2021 Energy and Climate Part 4: Geothermal Energy (Re-Release). This is Part 4 of our re-released Climate and Energy series! We are on a break right now, but there is always great geoscience information to learn about! Today we get to talk about something really relevant to our everyday ...
12.16.2021 Energy and Climate Part 3: Ancient Nuclear Reactors (Re-Release). This is Part III of our re-released Climate and Energy series! We are on a break right now, but there is always great geoscience information to learn about! Did you know that nuclear fission reactions are natural? Uranium fission drives ...
12.09.2021 Energy and Climate Part 2: Professor Michael Mann (Re-Release). Join us as we re-release of our favorite interviews that we have done, with one of the truly great climate scientists and communicators, Professor Michael Mann! Michael Mann, Distinguished Professor at The Pennsylvania State University, has a long history of ...
12.02.2021 Energy and Climate Part 1: The Greenhouse Effect (Re-Release). Join us as we discuss the science behind the greenhouse effect and how it all works. This is a re-release of a much earlier episode. As we take a SHORT break, we decided to release a theme of episodes surrounding ...
11.23.2021 Where to see Yosemite Geoscience (GeoShort) Please leave us a review and rating! Follow us on all the social medias we are @planetgeocast —————————————————— Website: https://planetgeocast.com Instagram: @planetgeocast Twitter: @planetgeocast Facebook: @planetgeocast Email: [email protected]
11.18.2021 Yosemite National Park Today, we talk about the geology of Yosemite National Park. Specifically, we dive into 4 different aspects: 1- What's the story behind all this granite? 2- Why do these mountains look the way they do? Glaciers 3- What are all ...
11.11.2021 Can Aliens See Us? Dr. Jackie Faherty Astronomers can detect other planets orbiting around stars in the sky. But, can those planets see us? That's the question, and Dr. Jackie Faherty has answers! This conversation is based on a paper that Dr. Faherty coauthored recently, found here. ...
11.04.2021 Manhatten-henge - Dr. Jackie Faherty (GeoShort) Have you heard of Manhattan-Henge? It's a totally cool phenomenon that occurs in The Big Apple every spring and summer. We interviewed Dr. Jackie Faherty about it! You can follow Dr. Faherty on Twitter and visit her website to learn ...
10.28.2021 What's in a Name? Volcano Edition In this episode, we discuss the categories - or different types of volcanoes in the world. We begin by discussing how the traditional categories, as found in most textbooks, are not adequate. There are too many exceptions to the rules. ...
10.21.2021 Mount St. Helens and Volcano Plumbing Systems (GeoShort) In this GeoShort, we discuss Mount St. Helens, one of Chris' favorite volcanoes and probably the reason he got into geoscience! This is the Scientific American article, written by Steve Olson, about Mount St. Helens that serves as the backbone ...
10.14.2021 Earth's Toxic Twin: An Interview About Venus With Professor Martha Gilmore Today we are talking about all things Venus! Our host - Professor Martha Gilmore of Wesleyan University - is a world expert on Earth's Toxic Twin planet, Venus. Venus is the second planet from the sun and the target for ...
10.07.2021 Testing Venus - Preview to Interview with Professor Martha Gilmore Well, we got to interview yet another amazing geoscientist - Professor Martha Gilmore of Wesleyan University! Professor Gilmore is a world expert on Venus, the second planet from the sun and the target for newly announced NASA Missions in the ...
09.30.2021 Geothermal Energy - The Basics Today we get to talk about something really relevant to our everyday lives, and the future - Geothermal Energy! Geothermal Energy is a term that means a few different things, but it all relies on the Earth being somewhat hot. ...
09.23.2021 Common Misconceptions Part I (GeoShort) There are so many misconceptions out there! In this Geoshort episode, Jesse interviews Chris about common Geoscience misconceptions that students have regarding our planet. Jesse is pulling the questions from a list of over 500 misconceptions (link here). Chris has ...
09.16.2021 Gems, Museums, and Minerals: Interview with Dr. Gabriela Farfan This week is a really special one! We had the great pleasure of interviewing Dr. Gabriela Farfan, the Coralyn W. Whitney Curator of Gems and Minerals at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum, the United States National Museum. Dr. Farfan is ...
09.09.2021 How Museums Get Their Gemstones: Preview to Interview with Dr. Gabriela Farfan (GeoShort) This week is a really special one! We had the great pleasure of interviewing Dr. Gabriela Farfan, the Coralyn W. Whitney Curator of Gems and Minerals at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum, the United States National Museum. Dr. Farfan is ...
09.02.2021 Geoscience Across the Pond: Interview with Professor Chris Jackson Curious about how Geoscience goes into the future? Have you ever wondered what causes tsunamis? Ever thought about what it's like to be a minority in the Geosciences? Professor Chris Jackson has something for everyone! Join us for one of ...
08.26.2021 What is Sustainable Geoscience? Preview to Interview with Professor Chris Jackson (GeoShort) This week we have an amazing guest! Professor Chris Jackson joins us for a short discussion on Sustainable Geoscience, what it means to him, and where he sees the future of Geoscience going. Professor Jackson is an incredible communicator and ...
08.19.2021 The Geoscientific Method: Study Design and Mass Spectrometers Join us for a free-ranging conversation on how Geoscience Research happens (in one lab group at least)! Today we talk about a mass spectrometer design project that Jesse is working on, how scientists typically need to fix and modify their ...
08.12.2021 Are Continents Growing? (Geoshort) This is a GeoShort followup discussion based on our previous Episode on the origins of continents and Bowen's reaction series! While Bowen's reaction series explains many things — like why is Hawaii different from Yellowstone? — it makes some very ...
08.05.2021 Why Continents Exist: Bowen's Reaction Series In this episode, we discuss a fundamental principle in geology: Bowen's Reaction Series. This concept is taught in every introductory geology class as it provides answers to important questions such as why continents exist on Earth. Bowens Reaction explains the ...
07.29.2021 The Great Salt Lake: Historically Low Water Levels For some background listen to our previous episode on hard water and why oceans are salty! Join us on this GeoShort as we discuss the Great Salt Lake, which is going through a period of very, VERY low water levels. ...
07.22.2021 Geysers and Hot Springs: Why They Matter with Examples From Yellowstone National Park Today we talk about Geysers! And Hot Springs, Mudpots, and Fumaroles! These are extraordinary features that give any landscape a pretty dramatic look. They are also very prevalent in Yellowstone National Park, and we give some key examples from that ...
07.15.2021 Rock Circles: Geologically Curious Phenomena (GeoShort) Our GeoShort today focuses on Spherical Weathering, where normal rocks are turned into round shapes by chemical erosion. Many rocks have cracks in them, called joints, and these joints often break the rocks up into little cubes or rectangular prisms. ...

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