PlanetGeo: The Geology Podcast

In this episode we had the great pleasure of interviewing Dr. Diana Roman, a volcanologist at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington DC!  Diana is not only a spectacular and prolific researcher, but she is an excellent communicator of all things volcanoes!  In this interview we talk to Dr. Roman about a wide range of topics including her career trajectory and former life as an economis...

In this episode, we answer a listener question!  Thanks to Tom for the excellent question which is, Why Don't Beaches Erode Quickly?  Basically our answers are the same, that beaches do erode quickly both in storms and in every day wave action.  But, we answer them in two different parts.   Tom also wondered what was our favorite beer to drink while looking at the Grand Tetons.  Another excel...

In this episode, Jesse and Chris talk about water.  That's right - water.  Where is the worlds water?  We begin by lumping all of the worlds water into 6 geological basins: oceans, glaciers, groundwater, lakes, atmosphere, and rivers.  We then assign relative percentages to each reservoir and then demonstrate how much water each would hold if all of the worlds water were scaled down to 5 gall...

Welcome to PlanetGeo - a short episode.  Today, we have a bonus story from our interview with longtime Yellowstone Park ranger - Harlan Kredit.  We were asking him about some of his most memorable experiences during his 48 year tenure.  Late one night, Harlan got a call about a baby that was lost at Lewis Lake in the Southern part of the park.  He talks about the grueling task of working a gird se...

In this episode, we interview a real gem - Yellowstone Park Ranger Harlan Kredit.  At 81 years old, Harlan has taught high school biology and earth science for 58 years and worked as an interpretive ranger for 48 years in Yellowstone.  Don't be fooled by his age; Harlan hasn't lost a step; Chris' high school students have a hard time keeping up with him on hikes!  Arguably, Harlan h...

In this GeoShort Episode we answer the listener question: Can human induced earthquakes damage Earth?  The short answer is....no.   Human seismic noise is actually really really small, but everywhere.  Much like static in the radio signal, it creates a little background buzz in many place.   In this episode, we talk about how small the human background seismicity is and also the misconception that...

In this GeoShort Chris gives recommendations for several hikes to do in the Grand Teton National Park!  These recommendations range from short day hikes to see cool geoscience within the Park, to full-on weeklong backpacking trip suggestions if you need to get away from it all for awhile.   Backpacking: Teton Crest Trail.  Unrivaled beauty along this well-defined trail.  Four to six days depending...

Learn all the basics of geology in our new conversational textbook - campGEO ! Available here: geo.campcourses.com Join us as we discuss the science behind the greenhouse effect and how it all works. In this episode, we talk about the forgotten history of the greenhouse gases.  The science behind greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and water is 200 years old.   What we began to understand two cen...

Learn all the basics of geology in our new conversational textbook - campGEO ! Available here: geo.campcourses.com Check out this photo of Grand Teton National Park to visualize what we discuss in this Episode! https://www.nps.gov/grte/planyourvisit/tetonfall.htm Join us this episode as we take you through a tour of the geoscience history of Grand Teton National Park and discuss why the Grand Teto...

Learn all the basics of geology in our new conversational textbook - campGEO ! Available here: geo.campcourses.com In this episode we cover a range of topics centered around diamonds.  Where do they come from?  Why are they valued?  How are they formed?  Why do diamonds sparkle so much?   Diamonds are a huge industry, and an economically important resource for many countries.  We cover the basics...

Learn all the basics of geology in our new conversational textbook - campGEO ! Available here: geo.campcourses.com This week we tackle a big question: why is the ocean so salty?  Spoiler alert: it's because of the hard water you may have running through your house! In this episode we cover three major questions: 1) Why is the ocean salty? 2) Why do rivers keep flowing all the time? and 3) Wha...

Learn all the basics of geology in our new conversational textbook - campGEO ! Available here: geo.campcourses.com In this episode we discuss what happened to our planet during the lockdowns due to Covid in the Spring of 2020. TL;DR The Earth quieted down and we produced less CO2 We highlight a few interesting articles that have been published recently and discuss the way that scientists measure E...

Learn all the basics of the amazing Geology of Yellowstone National Park, with visuals! Available now at - campGEO! Available here: geo.campcourses.com In this episode we get into one of our favorite places to study and teach the geosciences, Yellowstone National Park !  Yellowstone was the United State's first National Park , and arguably the first park of its kind in the world, but there is...

Learn all the basics of geology in our new conversational textbook - campGEO ! Available here: geo.campcourses.com “Plate tectonics makes this planet awesome, flat out.”  In this episode we take a dive into the fundamental process that makes Earth unique, plate tectonics.  We discuss what a tectonic plate is and what our planet would look like without plate tectonics, which would be pretty boring!...

Learn all the basics of geology in our new conversational textbook - campGEO ! Available here: geo.campcourses.com Welcome to the first episode of PlanetGeo!  Here we get introductions out of the way and discuss what excites us about the geosciences.  We are Chris Bolhuis, an award-winning High School Teacher in Hudsonville, Michigan.  Over his 20-ish year career, Chris has taught Earth Science, G...