Sonoma State University
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Geology Lecture Series

John and Mary Louise Riley Geology Lecture Series

The John and Mary Louise Riley Geology Lecture Series is sponsored by the Geology Club, an academic club with the common interest of rocks, fossils, and the Earth. Geology seminars take place in Darwin 128 at noon on Thursdays.

All talks take place in Darwin 128 from 12:00-12:50

Spring 2025 Schedule of Events

  • Thursday February 6th - Johanna Flodin of Stanford University will discuss sedimentary rocks in the Indians Ranch area
  • Thursday February 13th - Ian Ocampo of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory will give the talk "Forging the conditions of planetary interiors using ultra-fast compression techniques." 
  • Thursday February 27th - Joshua Goodwin from the Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors and Geologists will discuss the professional licensure process.
  • Thursday March 6th - Mike Jewett from Miller Pacific Engineering Group will talk about his landslide study he completed for the city of Sausalito
  • Thursday March 13th - Our very own Marissa Mnich will talk about volcanoes.
  • Thursday April 17th - Suzanne Hecker of the USGS will discuss her work on the Rodgers Creek Fault.

Fall 2024 Schedule of Events

  • Wednesday August 11th - Tanner Frank from UC Berkeley will talk about Stkelback Fish in Nevada 
  • Wednesday October 2nd - David Longstreth from California Geological Survey will talk about the various projects they work on.
  • Wednesday October 16th - Austin Elliott from the United States Geological Survey will talk about fault creep around the region, including new mapping and measurements that were recently published and how this informs our understanding of where and how big earthquakes may be.

Spring 2024 Schedule of Events

  • Thursday February 29th - Mike Poland, the scientist in charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, will talk about Yellowstone.
  • Thursday March 14th - Seth Burgess from the USGS. Using radiometric dating to recast time onto the geologic record of Pleistocene Alaska.
  • Thursday March 28th - Our very own Matty Mookerjee will give his talk entitled My Eras Tour: the Evolution of my Investigations into Complex Fault Systems.
  • Thursday April 11th - SSU Alumnus Bradley Keith, current a Master's student at SDSU, will discuss his grad school experience and his research.
  • Thursday April 25th - SSU Alumnus Jared Pratt of RGH Consultants will give a talk entitled, "Who is RGH and what do people do at a firm like ours?"
  • Thursday May 2nd - Brenna Quigley will talk about her work applying the science of geology to the world of wine through both education and hands on vineyard investigations.

Fall 2023 Schedule of Events

  • Wednesday September 27th - Austin Elliott from the USGS will discuss his research surrounding how we study contemporary earthquakes and faulting in the landscape both with boots-on-the-ground fieldwork and from spaceborne satellite sensors. 
  • Wednesday October 11th - Neil Kelley from Vanderbilt University will discuss his research on Ichthyosaurs in NV. This talk will also be on zoom: https://SonomaState.zoom.us/j/84028217578 
  • Wednesday October 18th - Dawnika Blatter from the USGS
  • Wednesday November 15th - David Bero, emeritus lecturer from SSU will discuss his research on the Franciscan. 
  • Wednesday November 29th - Joshua Goodwin from the Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors and Geologists will discuss the professional licensure process. 

Spring 2023 Schedule of Events

  • Wednesday February 15th - Janet Sowers from Fugro. "Fault investigations to site a geothermal landfill in the Imperial Valley"
  • Wednesday March 8th - Felix Desperrier.  
  • Wednesday April 5th - Mark Stelten from the USGS in Menlo Park
  • Talk canceled Wednesday April 26th - Jason Westlee Craig from Stanford University  
  • Wednesday May 3rd - Steve Schurke, Patrick Conway, and Mayerline Rico from PJC and Associates

Fall 2021 Schedule of Events

The Fall 2021 speaker series will take place virtually on Zoom. Links to the talk can also be found on the Sonoma State Geology Club Facebook Page.

Spring 2021 Schedule of Events

The Spring 2021 speaker series will take place virtually on Zoom. Links to the talk can be found on the Sonoma State Geology Club Facebook Page.

Fall 2020 Schedule of Events

The fall 2020 speaker series will take place virtually on Zoom. Links to the talk can be found on the Sonoma State Geology Club Facebook Page.

  • Thursday October 1st from 12 to 1 - Dave Fowler
  • Thursday November 5th from 12 to 1 - Alan Chapman from Macalaster University

Spring 2020 Schedule of Events

The final events in the 2020 Lecture Series have been cancelled due to the shutdown of campus. The following links will take you to the University COVID-19 page and the Academic Affairs COVID-19 Info Hub

  • January 22nd - Candidate #1 for Ig/Met Tenure Track Faculty Position
  • January 29th - Candidate #2 for Ig/Met Tenure Track Faculty Position
  • February 4th (Tuesday) - Candidate #3 for Ig/Met Tenure Track Faculty Position
  • February 6th (Thursday)- Candidate #4 for Ig/Met Tenure Track Faculty Position
  • April 1st - Alan Chapman from Macalester College
  • April 15th - Brennan Williams-Mieding from West Coast Geologic will talk about his work drilling in the Geysers. 
  • April 29th - Dave Fowler from the State of California at the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board

Spring 2019 Schedule of Events

  • February 6th - Mike Jewitt from Miller Pacific Engineering Group
  • February 12th - Darwin Day Special Tuesday Seminar featuring Greg Priest from Stanford University.
  • February 20th - Diego Melgar from the EarthScope Speaker Series
  • March 27th - Matt Malkowski from Stanford University
  • April 17th - Zeno Levy from the USGS
  • April 24th - Nicole Lunning from Rutgers University

Fall 2018 Schedule of Events

  • September 12th  - Laurie Racca from the Board for Professional Geologists
  • October 17th - Max Rudolph from UC Davis
  • November 14th - Tom Anderson from the University of Nevada Reno and SSU
  • November 28th - Katherine Wentz from Remote Sensing Systems (RSS)
  • December 5th - Nate Eichelberger from StructureSolver

Spring 2018 Schedule of Events

  • January 23rd - Robin Glass from Syracuse University
  • January 30th- Ferdinand Oberle from the USGS
  • February 6th – Sarah Evans from Appalachian State University
  • February 8th - Carolina Munoz from the University of California Berkeley
  • March 7th - Elisa Fitz from the University of Mexico 
  • April 4th - Becca Lawton, a science writer from Sonoma county 
  • April 18th - Pria Shukla from Bodega Marine Lab