Many past 2021-2022 programs are available on our youtube channel.
Titles that appear as links below will take you to the MSDC Secretary's program description.
Videos of most programs since 2021 are on our youtube channel for
Mineralogical Society of DC at
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCv0e-YSs5tEGOBbOPdUIcUQ?app=desktop
Actinolite, Alpine Mudflows, and the San Andreas Fault Zone, Wrightwood, CA - Debra Brooks, geology professor emerita, Santiago Canyon College, California (May 2023) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43wJoV0fAr0
Agates - Wayne Sukow (May 2014)
Amethyst - Dr. Michael Wise, Smithsonian Mineral Sciences Dept. (October 2017)
Amethyst from Jackson Crossroads, GA -- Sarah Christensen, former curator of the Tellus Museum in Cartersville, Georgia (October 2018)
Australia—Minerals and Museums - Sue Marcus (February 2014)
Bermuda - The Sculptural Evolution and Predicted Future of Bermuda's Geologic Landscape - Amanda Parker (September 2018)
Biominerals: Discovering Their Structural and Biohemical Secrets - Gabriela Farfan, Ph.D., Coralyn W. Whitney Curator of Gems and Minerals at the Smithsonian (Mar. 2021)
The Bowen Reaction Series - Joe Marx, Northern Virginia Community College (April 2012)
The Bridgewater Titanite Follies - Carter Rich
Building Stones of Bulgaria – Ed Monroe
Carrollite - Geological setting of the world's best carrollite crystals, and associated minerals, from the Kamoya Sud II Mine, Katanga Province, Democratic Republic of Congo - Dr. Sharad Master (Nov. 2018)
Cathodoluminescence and What It Can Tell Us About Pegmatite Processes - Dr. Michael Wise, NMNH (Jan. 2, 2013),
Cave Minerals - Tom Tucker
The Chesapeake Bay Impact Crater off Virginia Beach - Dr. Lucy Edwards, USGS (retired) (Feb. 2022)
Chromite Mining in Maryland (Maryland was the biggest chromite producer in the world in the 1800s.) - Johnny Johnson
Chrysoberyl – Lisa Karp, Montgomery College
Collecting in Creed, Colorado – George Loud
Collecting at the Dixie Mine, Virginia – Tom Tucker
Collecting the Cardinal Direction-Markers for the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian – Tim Rose, NMNH (January 2005)
Collecting at the Goodsprings Mining District - Jim Soboleski
Collecting in Namibia and South Africa - Frank Hissong
Collecting and Exploring in Arizona and New Mexico - Dave and Leslie Nanney
Collecting "Herkimer Diamonds" - Scott Braley (January 2016)
Color in Minerals - Cathe Brown, NMNH
Colorful Rare Earth Minerals - Michael Pabst (June 5, 2013)
Colour-changing Diamonds - Dr. Keal S. Byrne (May 6, 2015)
The Continental Craton and How It Grew - Patrick Rowe (June 2023) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwKWykhaQbE
Copper Silicates of Arizona - Michael Pabst (March 2017)
Corridor H, a roadcut in Virginia and West Virginia full of fascinating geology - Shelley Jaye, Northern Virginia Community College geologist (Sept. 2015)
Crystal Forms, Symmetry, and Systems – Cathe Brown, NMNH
Crystal Structures - Keith Williams
Cumbrian Hematite – Frank Hissong
Diamonds -- Kathy Hrechka (Sept. 2016)
Dinosaur Tracks in Maryland - Ray Stanford
Fluid Inclusions - Happy Little Accidents of the Mineral World - Joshua Field, Ph.D. (Oct. 2021)
Gemstones of Ancient Egypt - Derek Yoost (May 2021)
Geological and Mineralogical Pioneer Nicholas Steno (1638-1686) - Alan Cutler (March 2012)
Geology around Yellowstone – Tom Tucker
Geology of the Blue Ridge Mountains – Richard Tollo, George Washington University
Geology of Gem Deposits – Michael Wise, NMNH
Geology of Mather Gorge (Great Falls of the Potomac) - Scott Southworth, US Geological Survey
Gold in the Washington, DC Area - Walter Goetz
Graphite - Rebecca Stokes, Ph.D., USGS (Feb. 2024)
Greenland's Mineral Frontier - Thomas Hale (Jan. 2024)
Herkimer area, NY - Sept. 7 - Ongoing investigations of new mines and quartz crystal habits in the Herkimer Area, New York, plus tips and tools for recovering minerals in topsoil - Bill Stephens, professional geologist and president of Stephens Environmental ConsultingHerkimer (Sept. 2022)
Diamonds - Scott Braley (January 2016). View slideshow presentation
The History of Maryland Pegmatites - Dr. Cindy Kearns
Hope Diamond Recent Research - Jeffrey Post, NMNH
How to Classify and Document a Collection – Susan Fisher and other MSDC members
Iceland - A Bit of Adventure across the Land of Fire and Ice - Dan Teich (March 2022) - video
Iceland Sunstones for Viking Navigation: Saga and Science - Jennifer Bartlett, Ph.D., from the US Naval Observatory (May 4, 2022) - video
Introduction to the Rosetta Mission: Chasing the Comet - Dr. Thomas Gautier, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (April 2015)
Kilauea Current Eruptions – Tim Rose, NMNH
Lake Superior Agates – Wayne Sukow
The Lewisian Gneiss Complex of Scotland -- Dr. George Guice, NMNH (Nov. 2019)
Living with A (Growing) Mineral Collection -- Charlie Berry (Oct. 2016)
Magma: First Contact with the Real Thing - Bruce Marsh
The Many Faces of Fluorite - Herwig Pelckmans
Many Forms of Fluorite - Susan FIsher (October 2012)
Mars Mineralogy – Mariek Schmidt, NMNH
Meteor Impact Craters: The Hole Story – Bevan French
Meteorites: An Overview of Their Variety with A Special Look at the Lorton, Virginia Meteorite - Cari Corrigan, NMNH (May 2012)
Meteorites in Antarctica - Cari Corrigan, NMNH (January 2012)
Michigan Copper - Jim Hurd (June 2021)
Microminerals - Joe Marty, BMS Micromounters Hall of Fame (April 2013)
Micros in Roadcuts of the Scenic Loop of Jeff Davis County, West Texas - Erich Grundel and Tom Tucker
Minerals and Geology of Santorini - Dr. Robert "Hutch" Brown
Minerals and Mineralogy of Chimney Rock, Bridgewater, NJ - Dan Teich (October 2020)
Mineral Network Analysis - Dr. Shaunna Morrison and Cadence Boucher (Sept. 2019)
Minerals of the Hogg Mine, Georgia - Bill Stephens, EFMLS (Feb. 2020)
Minerals of the Thomas Mountains, Utah - Patrick Haynes
Mineral Travels in Vietnam - Tom Tucker (February)
Mineral Twinning – Julia Nord, George Mason University
Mineral Travels in Vietnam - Tom Tucker
Minerals of Cornwall, England - Martin Held (April 2021)
Moon Minerals - Paul Lowman
Morocco Mineral Travels - Casper Voogt (May 2013)
Namibia field trip - Casper Voogt (January 2019)
A "Night of Geology" with Dr. Richard Tollo and his students in the Mineral Sciences program at George Washington University (March 2013)
Opals – Eloise Gaillou, NMNH
Oregon Cascades - A Lapillistone Deposit - Doug Robbins (March 2022)
Origin of Willis Mountain and Other Kyanite Deposits - Dr. Brent Owens, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA (June 2014)
Patterns in Global Volcanism - Dr. Ben Andrews of the Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program, and also Associate Curator of Rocks and Ores at the Natural History Museum (March 2023) - video
Pegmatites: What are they and where to find them? - with Cathleen Brown of the Smithsonian Natural History Museum (Feb. 2013)
Photographing Minerals - Bob Simonoff (April 2013)
Poland's Amber and Wieliczka Salt Mine - Denise Nelson (May 2018)
Postcards: Images and Messages about Minerals, Mines and Miners - Erich Grundel (November 2014)
Purple Apatite - Michael Wise, NMNH
Recent advances in understanding the geology of the Piedmont Province of Virginia,
District of Columbia, and Maryland - Scott Southworth, USGS
Red Cloud Mines of New Mexico - Scott Braley (Jan. 2021)\
Rodingite from Hunting Hill Quarry, Montgomery County, MD - Tim Rose, Smithsonian Museum of Natural History (Nov. 2, 2022) - youtube summary
Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines Mineral & Gem Show, France, 2012 - Bob Simonoff (Sept. 2012)
The Silver Hill Mine - L. Michael Kaas (March 2020)
Smaller Localities of Eastern Canada - Quintin Wight (Sept. 2021)
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History: Recent Acquisitions and Other News - Dr. Jeffrey Post, curator of gems and minerals and director of the mineral sciences department (April 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019...and more)
Smithsonite: My Global Micromineral Collection and the Legacy of James Smithson - Kathy Hrechka (Dec. 2021)
The Mysterious Masks of Teotihuacan - Tim Rose (January 2014)
Tour of the Smithsonian’s NanaScanning Electron Microscope – Tim Rose, NMNH
Tracking the Early Cretaceous Dinosaurs and Other Vertebrates in Maryland - Ray Stanford
Trilobites: From Cambrian Oceans to West Virginia Collecting Sites - Casper Voogt (November 2021)
The Universe in a Micro Box - Mike Seeds, Ph.D. (Feb. 2021)
Oregon Cascades -- Update on Field Research: Mafic Lapilli Stone of the Talapus-Katsuk and Implications for Global-Mafic Volcanism - Doug Robbins, awardee of the 2021 MSDC Foshag Award for geological studies - video
An Update on Pegmatite Research - Dr. Michael Wise of the Smithsonian Mineral Sciences Department (June 2015)
An Update on Hard Rock Mining in Montana - Garrett Smith, with the MIning Bureau of Montana's Department of Environmental Quality (Jan. 2022)
Using Tephra to Unlock the Secrets of Kilauea Volcano's Explosive Past - Abigail Nalesnik (Oct. 2023) - https://msdc.ghost.io/october-2023-program-report-abby-nalesnik/ text - video at
Volcanology of the Oregon Cascades - Richard Tollo, Ph.D., professor of geology at George Washington University, Washington, DC (June 1, 2022)
What's New with the Smithsonian Gem & Mineral Collections? - Dr. Jeffrey Post, Chair of Mineral Sciences Department and Curator of Gems and Minerals at the Smithsonian Institution (May 2019)
Wildfire Ash: "There's something in the air: collection and study of Canadian wildfire ash in Washington, D.C., June/July 2023" - Smithsonian geologist Tim Rose. (Sept. 2023) - video and program report
The Wilson Cycle and Virginia Geology – Susan Fisher
The Wonders of Pegmatite Pockets – Michael Wise, NMNH
Zooming in on Micro-Minerals - Michael Pabst (March 2015)