Friday May 31, 2024
3:00 PM- Stan Grove, PhD
“An Introduction to Wyoming Minerals”
“An Introduction to Wyoming Minerals”
Dr Grove will introduce the wide variety of Wyoming Minerals including the beautiful, the rare, the unusual and the unique while spotlighting his own collection. Come and let Stan introduce you to the wonderful world of Wyoming Minerals.
Friday May 31, 2024
4:00 PM- Ned Kelly
“Catch and Release Rockhounding in Yellowstone”
This avid rockhound has spent many hours of over his lifetime hiking in Yellowstone National Park. Since collecting rocks in Yellowstone is prohibited, he borrowed from his experience as a fisherman and “collected” rocks with his camera in what he calls “catch and release rockhounding”. Come walk the back trails with Ned and see what he found!
Saturday June 1, 2024
10:00 AM- Pebble Pup (Kids) Workshop by Greg Jones and Members of the Cody 59ers Rock Club — Session 1(Limit- 20 kids, Ages 6 to 12)
“Discover Rocks of the Bighorn Basin" (How to Identify Common Rocks and Minerals)
Hands on experience where kids will learn to recognize and identify common Bighorn Basin specimens using real rocks.
Go to www.nwc.edu/pvce to Register, See Discover Rocks of the Bighorn Basin
Saturday June 1, 2024
11:00 AM- Pebble Pup (Kids) Workshop by Greg Jones and Members of the Cody 59ers Rock Club — Session 2 (Limit- 20 kids, Ages 6 to 12)
“How to Identify Common Rocks and Minerals of the Bighorn Basin”
Hands on experience where kids will learn to recognize and identify common Bighorn Basin specimens using real rocks.
Go to www.nwc.edu/pvce to Register, See Discover Rocks of the Bighorn Basin
Starting at 10 AM to 2 PM: Rock Climbing Wall Available for Kids outside Homesteader Building (the Current Home of the Powell Branch of the Park County Library).
1:00 PM- Erik Kvale, PhD "Hidden Secrets in the Jurassic of the Bighorn Basin.”
Dr Kvale has studied Bighorn Basin rocks for much of his professional life with a particular interest in the Jurassic strata. Come and share some of the secrets he has uncovered in these layers which include ancient tracks and fossils that help us better understand Jurassic Wyoming.
3:00 PM- Christopher Doorn, PhD “Critical Minerals in Wyoming” Almost weekly in the pages of our state’s newspaper we read of critical minerals in Wyoming. Dr Doorn will introduce us to these minerals, why they are “critical” and what they could mean to Wyoming’s future. He promises to bring some specimens.
Guest Speakers
2024 Wyoming State Mineral And Gem Show Lecture Series
Stan Grove, PhD Topic: Introduction to the Minerals of Wyoming
Stan Grove holds a doctorate in Philosophy from The Catholic University of America, where his research delved into Thomas Aquinas's doctrine of prime matter and its intersection with modern quantum physics. Stan is in his 15th year teaching at Wyoming Catholic College in Lander. His scholarly pursuits encompass the philosophy of physics, philosophical dimensions of evolutionary theory, the metaphysics of causality, and natural theology. Outside of his professional endeavors, Stan has nurtured a lifelong passion for natural history, especially minerals and geology. He collects and hunts Wyoming rocks and minerals, with a focus on Nephrite Jade. Stan is a past president of the Riverton Mineral and Gem Society in Fremont County, Wyoming.
Ned Kelley, Topic: Catch and Release Rockhounding in Yellowstone
If there was a PhD in hiking, Cody native Ned Kelley would have one. Over his 65 some years, he has logged hundreds of miles hiking in the Bighorn Basin and surrounding mountains. His hikes sometimes involved other things he loves to do like hunting, fishing, photography and almost always rockhounding. Ned always has time for interesting rocks he would encounter. Ned Kelley has spent a lot of time on the path less traveled in Our First National Park discovering its wonderful rocks and minerals. Drawing from his fishing experience and being a photographer, he developed a collection on film of specimens that he “Caught and Released”.
Erik Kvale, PhD Topic: Hidden Secrets in the Jurassic of the Bighorn Basin
Erik Kvale is a respected and distinguished geoscientist, researcher, and teacher who earned his Ph.D. in Geology from Iowa State University in 1986. He retired from Devon Energy as Principal Geologist in July 2020 after 14 years of enhancing the company's knowledge and understanding of several hydrocarbon plays. Prior to his tenure at Devon, Erik dedicated 19 years to the Indiana Geological Survey at Indiana University as a research scientist. Throughout his career, Erik has made significant contributions nationally and internationally, with over 75 papers, maps, and guidebooks published on a variety of depositional systems, ranging from fluvial to deep marine environments. Despite his myriad of professional endeavors, Erik has maintained an active research interest in the Bighorn Basin for over 30 years. His work in the region led to the discovery and naming of the Red Gulch Dinosaur Tracksite near Shell, Wyoming, in 1997. This site is recognized as one of the most extensive dinosaur tracksites in North America and a rare remnant of Middle Jurassic dinosaurs in Wyoming. It has become one of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) most visited educational sites in Wyoming. The site was developed by a collaboration between Erik and colleagues from Dartmouth College, Kansas State University, University of Colorado, Boulder, and the BLM. From 2003 to 2006, Erik served as Lecturer and Director of the Iowa State University (ISU) summer field camp near Shell, Wyoming. He continues to contribute to the field camp by delivering lectures as a volunteer.
Chris Doorn, PhD Topic: Critical Minerals in Wyoming
Chris Doorn joined the Wyoming State Geological Survey in January 2023 as a geologist working with the Energy and Mineral Resources team. Before joining the WSGS, Chris worked as a temporary lecturer in the Department of Geology and Geophysics at the University of Wyoming. Chris has a B.S. in Earth Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Ph.D. in Geology from the University of Wyoming. Chris’s background is in igneous petrology, geochronology, ocean tectonics, structural geology, and electron microscopy. In his free time, Chris enjoys hiking Wyoming's mountain ranges and exploring the complex geologic history they contain.”
Presenters for the Pebble Pups (Kids) Workshops Topic: How to Identify Common Rocks and Minerals of the Bighorn Basin
The workshops will be taught by Greg L. Jones, who is the current President of the Cody 59ers Rock Club. Greg has extensive experience in geology, having grown up in the Bighorn Basin and earned a Master's degree in Geology from Brigham Young University. He worked at ExxonMobil for 35 years in various geologic roles before retiring in 2013. After retirement, he worked as a consulting geologist primarily in Louisiana and Texas until 2020. Greg has a passion for sharing his knowledge of geology with young people and currently volunteers at Bighorn Canyon National Recreation in Lovell. There, he leads field trips for school classes and conducts geology walks for visitors. He will be assisted by several members of the Cody 59ers Rock Club who share his enthusiasm for teaching children.