About this Podcast Series
In learning about the geology of our planet, I have been struck both by the story we have uncovered and by the theoretical and experimental ingenuity of those who have got us to this point. I hope these podcasts reveal pieces of the story in digestible bites as told by those who discovered (and continue to discover) them.
I aim to make this series accessible to curious listeners, even those who do not have a formal scientific background. But some of the ideas are quite subtle or intricate, and this might turn out to be a bit optimistic. Give me feedback, either by submitting the form on the Contact page, or by email, so I can adjust things to make the series better.
Oliver
geologybitespodcast@gmail.com
X: @geology_bites
Bluesky: GeologyBites
Instagram, Facebook: geologybites
Advisory Board (in progress)
Peter Cawood, Monash University
Gillian Foulger, Durham University
Roberta Rudnick, University of California Santa Barbara
Mike Searle, Oxford University
About Oliver Strimpel
Above the Parkachik glacier below the peak of Nun (7,887 m) in Zanskar, in the far north of India, on a 2018 geological field trip.
I started with physics as an undergraduate at Cambridge University, then astrophysics for my DPhil at Oxford University with Dennis Sciama as my supervisor, and then went to the Science Museum, London, as curator for mathematics and computing. There I discovered the rewards and challenges of conveying scientific and technological subjects to a public with a wide range of prior knowledge. In 1984, I was recruited to The Computer Museum in Boston where, as Curator and Director, I developed exhibitions on the history, technology, and applications of computers. Later, I became a patent attorney, and was appointed Senior Patent Counsel at Avid Technology, Inc.
My desire to understand how the physical landscape came to be led me to wonder about the processes that have been at work since the planet formed over four billion years ago. Over the past decade, I became increasingly fascinated by what geology has uncovered about these processes, taking several courses at the Open University and at MIT. At MIT, Professor Sam Bowring invited me to learn about geochronology in his lab. Then, on a field trip to Annapurna, Professor Mike Searle encouraged me to take on a research project as a visiting fellow at Oxford. That developed into an effort to pin down movement along the Karakoram fault in Ladakh by radiometrically dating the various intrusive phases adjacent to the fault near Lake Pangong. Geology Bites grew out of a desire to share nuggets and perspectives of this remarkable field of study.
Geology Bites in the News
Guertin, L., and Strimpel, O. (2021), GeoEd Trek, AGU https://blogs.agu.org/geoedtrek/2021/05/26/geology-bites/
Johnson, T (2022), Book review: Geology Bites podcast by Oliver Strimpel. Geological Magazine https://doi.org/10.1017/S0016756822000024
Peters, C., and Strimpel, O. (2022), The Geological Society of Australia, The Australian Geologist, 202, 30 Geology Bites Podcast
Sherman, S (2022), And The Next Thing You Know Podcast Interview with Oliver Strimpel
Peters, C (2022), Proceedings of the Open University Geological Society, 8, 145 Podcast Review, Geology Bites
Lo, M (2022), GEOSCIENTIST, Autumn 2022, 46 Geology Bites Podcast Review
Acknowledgements
I’m very grateful to Mike Searle and James Jackson for their enthusiastic support and advice; Steve Lord and Harriet Strimpel for reviewing each episode prior to release; John Kubale for graphic design; Steve Lord and Nelson Eby for editing the transcripts and compiling the glossaries; Mary McCann for copy editing the website, transcripts, and glossaries; Sherri Donaldson for help with social media; and Rob Gonsalves and Randy Fayan for technical advice.