Past Meetings, 2020–21 to 2029–30
Click the talk title to see the talk abstract and speaker’s biography (PDF). Starting in 2022–23, video recordings of the talks on our YouTube channel are also linked.
September 30, 2020
Dr. Roland Bürgmann, UC Berkeley ― A Close-up View of Bay Area Natural Hazards from Outer Space
October 28, 2020
Dr. Jared Gooley, U.S. Geological Survey ― From Forearc to Transform: Sedimentary Record of Changing Tectonic Setting in the California Continental Margin
November 18, 2020
Dr. Lori Dengler, Humboldt State University (emerita) ― Kaome: The Extraordinary Tsunami Boat Linking Japan and California Communities
January 27, 2021
Dr. Christie Rowe, McGill University ― Insights into the Dynamics of Subduction from Studies in the Franciscan Complex
February 24, 2021
Dr. Tiziano Vanorio, Stanford University ― Concrete and Concrete-like Rocks: The Role of Mineral Cementitious Fibers in Controlling Strength and Mode of Failure
March 31, 2021
Dr. John C. Eichelberger, GSA Distinguished Lecturer, University of Alaska Fairbanks ― Drilling to Magma
April 28, 2021
Dr. Penelope Bosto, NASA Ames Research Center ― Caves on Earth Can Address Some of the Most Challenging Questions Facing Astrobiologists Today
May 26, 2021
Dr. Sarah Milkovich, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory ― Perseverance Rover and the Search for Life on Mars
June 30, 2021
David B. Williams, Author ― Stories in Stone: Travels through Urban Geology
September 29, 2021
Prof. Stephen Self, UC Berkeley ― Long-term Volcanism Risk at the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository Site, Nevada
October 27, 2021
Dr. Donald G. Hill, University of Southern California ― Use and Abuse of Wireline Measurements for Potash Exploration and Reserves Estimates
November 17, 2021
Dr. Carolyn Driedger, U.S. Geological Survey, Vancouver Station ― New Information on Lahars from the USGS Task Force
January 26, 2022
Dr. Katie Stack Morgan, NASA Jet Propulsion Lab ― One Year in Jezero Crater with the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover
February 23, 2022
Dr. Joshua White, Lawrence Livermore Laboratory ― Risk Management Practices for Geologic Carbon Storage and Induced Seismicity
March 30, 2022
Dr. Nicholas Swanson-Hysell, UC Berkeley ― From Death Valley to Lake Superior: Large Igneous Province Magmatism and the Assembly of the Rodinia Supercontinent 1.1 Billion Years Ago
April 27, 2022
Dr. Kim Juniper, Ocean Networks Canada, University of Victoria ― The Battle for the Abyss: Mining, Conservation, and Bioprospecting Interests Square Off on the Deep Sea
May 25, 2022
Dr. Alex Filippenko, UC Berkeley ― Dark Energy and the Runaway Universe
June 29, 2022
Dr. George Stanley, University of Montana Paleontology Center ― Mass Extinctions in Geologic Time and What We Learn from Them
September 28, 2022
Meghomita Das, PhD candidate, McGill University ― Mapping the Metaclastic Units of Angel Island: A Study in Structural Geology and Geochronology
Video
October 26, 2022
Dr. Jonathan Payne, Stanford University ― Connecting End-Permian Paleontological and Geochemical Records Using Physiology and Earth System Models
Video
November 16, 2022
Dr. Marty Grove, Stanford University ― Nature and Timing of Deformation and Heat Flow Related to Laramide Shallow Subduction beneath the Southern California Margin
Video
January 15, 2023
Dr. Erik Sperling, Stanford University ― The Environmental Context of Early Animal Evolution
February 22, 2023
Dr. Mathieu Lapôtre, Stanford University ― The Power of Comparative Planetology to Decipher the Mechanics of Surface Processes and their Records
Video
March 29, 2023
Dr. John Karachewski, Retired ― California Hydroscapes
Video
April 26, 2023
Dr. Larry Toy, Retired ― The James Webb Telescope—A New Look at the Universe
Video
May 31, 2023
Robert M. Gailey, Gailey Consulting Hydrogeologist ― Groundwater Management in California: Big Picture Issues, Recent Regulatory Requirements and Scientific-Economic Approaches
Video
June 28, 2023
Andrew Alden, Author, Deep Oakland ― Oakland Geology: Answers and Questions
Video
September 27, 2023
Donald R. Lowe, Stanford University ― The Archean Earth: No Country for Old Men
October 25, 2023
Linda Dismore Smith, Chevron (Ret) — Climate Change: Evidence and Possible Tipping Points
November 15, 2023
Jeff Unruh, Lettis Consultants — Seismic Hazard Evaluation of the Midland and West Tracy Faults at Byron, CA, for State Water Infrastructure
January 31, 2024
Dr. Pallav Sarma, Tachyus Corp. — Physics Embedded Machine Learning for Modeling and Optimization of Mature Oil Reservoirs
February 28, 2024
Chris Bond, California Department of Water Resources — The California Aqueduct Subsidence Program
March 27, 2024
Jessica Murray, US Geological Survey ― Inclusion of GNSS-based Earthquake Source Characterization in the ShakeAlert Early Warning System
(note: this talk was not recorded)
April 24, 2024
Nicholas Swanson-Hysell, UC Berkeley ― Chronostratigraphy of Miocene Strata in the Berkeley Hills and Arrival of the San Andreas Transform Boundary
(note: this talk was not recorded)
May 29, 2024
Libby Ives, Jet Propulsion Laboratory ― Sedimentary Geology of the Jezero Crater Western Fan as Seen by Mars Perseverance Rover
June 26, 2024
Don Medwedeff, Consultant ― Structure, Timing, and Western Extent of the Stockton Arch: Constraints on Neogene Strike-Slip Fault Offset in the Diablo Range
September 25, 2024
John Karachewski, NCGS ― Icelandic Geoscapes
October 30, 2024
Greg Croft, St. Mary’s College ― Carbon Sequestration: Injection versus Mineralization
November 20, 2024
Dawnika Blatter, US Geological Survey ― Volcanoes to Vineyards: Volcanic History of the Clear Lake Volcanic Field
January 29, 2025
Rune Storesund, Consultant — “Urban Landslide Hazard Mapping: A Case Study in Orinda, California” — Behind the Scenes of AEG Special Publication 31
February 26, 2025
Seth Burgess, USGS California Volcano Observatory — Refining the Pleistocene Record of Alaska with Radiometric Dates
March 26, 2025
Felipe González-Cataldo, UC Berkeley ― A Dive into Planetary Interiors: Insights from Matter at Extreme Conditions
April 30, 2025
Student Speaker Night:
Anthony Fuentes, UC Berkeley — Extending the History of Iron Ore Formation by 1 Billion Years Using Geochronology and Paleomagnetism
Evelyn Usher, UC Davis ― Active Faulting in Lassen Volcanic National Park and Surrounding Area
May 28, 2025
Walter Alvarez, UC Berkeley — Origin and History of Cenozoic Megalake Sudd, Sudan and South Sudan
June 25, 2025
Joseph Moore, University of Utah — Geothermal Energy in Utah: Current and Future Activities
September 24, 2025
Lung Chan, UC Berkeley and University of Hong Kong ― A New Geological Structure Formed by Natural Explosions in Rocks
October 29, 2025
Jim Jacobs, Principal Geologist, Clearwater Group ―
Effects of Sea Level Rise and Extreme Precipitation on Groundwater Emergence and Contaminant Migration
November 19, 2025
Peggy Hellweg, Berkeley Seismological Laboratory ―
Revisiting an Enigma on California’s North Coast: The Fickle Hill Earthquake of 21 December 1954
January 28, 2026
Student Speaker Night
Ziman Wu, UC Berkeley ― Formation and Diagenesis of Bahamian Carbonate Mud
Ryan Lynch, UC Davis ― Active Faulting in the Klamath Mountains Revealed by Lidar Data
Lena Hernandez, UC Berkeley ― Triple Oxygen Isotope Constraints on Fluid Aleration of Serpentinite, Twin Sisters Massif, Washington
February 25, 2026
Danielle Madugo, California Geological Survey ―
A Newly Identified Creeping Strand of the Concord Fault and Related A-P Act Rezoning
March 25, 2026
Jeremy Lancaster, State Geologist of California —
Post-Fire Geohazard Risk Management in California’s Warming Climate
April 29, 2026
Dr. James Faulds, Nevada Bureau of Mines —
Nevada’s Immense Mineral and Geothermal Endowment: Legacy of a Long Journey through Hot Water and Major Orogenic Events
May 27, 2026
Dr. Peter Roopnarine, Cal Academy of Sciences —
Everything Changes but Remains the Same: Persistent and Repeating Ecosystems in Earth’s History