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.
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)
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
Oregon Cascades - A Lapillistone Deposit - Doug Robbins (March 2022)
Gold in the Washington, DC Area - Walter Goetz
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 Lapil - Doug Robbins (March 2022) - video
Origin of Willis Mountain and Other Kyanite Deposits - Dr. Brent Owens, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA (June 2014)
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)
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)
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)