Free geology lectures and podcasts

Anthöny Pain, a YouTube content creator GFYS a has featured before, takes us to:

• The Evolution of Life part 12: Neogene
  Anthöny introduces a wide range of the Neogene fauna found on the continental landmasses.

The Backpacker’s Guide To Prehistory: S2 E3: The Palaeogene
Join host David Mountain as he ventures into the tropical world of the Palaeogene, 66-23 million years ago. If you’re looking for volatile climates, volcanic activity and some of the most remarkable mammals to have ever walked the Earth, then the Palaeogene could be the perfect getaway!
Providing the travel advice for this podcast are two Palaeogene experts, Dr Monica Carvalho, a palaeobotanist with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and Dr Sergi López-Torres, a palaeontologist at the University of Warsaw.

The Backpacker’s Guide to Prehistory has a series of Podcasts on YouTube which gives top travel tips for time travellers. A highly enjoyable & informative series which covers:

• S1 E2: The Devonian
  David Mountain travels back to the Devonian period, 419-359 million years ago. In this weird world of giant fungi and armour-plated fish, what creatures should you look out for? Where should you pitch your tent? And should you really take a dip in Devonian waters? Providing the answers are two Devonian experts: Dr Sandy Hetherington, a palaeobotanist at the University of Edinburgh, and Dr Alice Clement, a palaeontologist at Flinders University.

BBC Sounds In Our Time discusses

• The Late Devonian Extinction
  originally broadcast on BBC R4 on 11 March 2021, Melvyn Bragg and guests, Mike Benton, David Bond and Jessica Whiteside discuss the disappearance of up to 70 % of species roughly 370 million years ago at the end of The Age of Fishes, and the range of possible causes
• The Permian-Triassic Boundary
  Melvyn Bragg and guests, Richard Corfield, Mike Benton, Jane Francis, discuss the Permian-Triassic boundary. 250 million years ago, in the Permian period, the most ferocious predators on earth were the Gorgonopsians. The Gorgonopsians and up to 95% of all life died in the greatest mass extinction the world has ever known. But what caused this catastrophic juncture in life, what evidence do we have for what happened and what do events like this tell us about the pattern and process of evolution itself?
• The Geological Formation of Britain

  where Melvyn Bragg and guests Richard Corfield, Jane Francis and Sanjeev Gupta discuss the geological formation of Britain.

When this was broadcasted, Richard Corfield was Visiting Senior Research Fellow at Oxford University; Jane Francis Professor of Palaeoclimatology at the University of Leeds and Sanjeev Gupta was a Royal Society-Leverhulme Trust Research Fellow at Imperial College London).

BBC Sounds The Life Scientific features

• Nick Fraser on Triassic reptiles
  Dr Nick Fraser regularly travels back in time (at least in his mind) to the Triassic, in 2017 he was part of hugely exciting find hidden in the Scottish borders in rocks that are over 350 million years old: an ancient amphibian, imaginatively named Tiny, that is the earliest known example of an animal with a backbone to live on land. It may even have had five fingers!
• GA Member Caz Donovan recommends a 5 episode podcast on BBC Sounds entitled Geochemical Life on Earth – thanks Caz.
  Episode 3: A series of unfortunate events
  covers the five main mass extinction events, including the end of Ordovician.

Dr Benjamin Burger Associate Professor of Geology (Utah State University, Geosciences) has a YouTube channel devoted to paleontology and geology, specifically in Utah. He covers:

• The Permian-Triassic Boundary – The Rocks of Utah
  Dr Benjamin Burger, investigates the Great Dying! Following a field trip to the Permian-Triassic Boundary Dr Burger discusses the Earth’s Largest Mass Extinction event, 252 million years ago.

BBC iPlayer: A Perfect Planet BBC is available now on iPlayer, the first episode of this David Attenborough narrated series is:

• Volcano and looks at how, without volcanoes, there would be no life on Earth. Although destructive, magma from the planet’s molten core builds land, and mineral-rich ash from eruptions fertilises the surface. The scenery is stunning.
  
• The Geological Formation of Britain
  Melvyn Bragg and guests Richard Corfield, Jane Francis and Sanjeev Gupta discuss the geological formation of Britain. Around 600 million years ago Britain was in two parts, far to the south of the Equator. Scotland and north-western Ireland were part of a continent (Laurentia) what is now North America. To the south-east, near the Antarctic Circle, meanwhile, were southern Ireland, England and Wales. They formed a mini-continent (Avalonia) with what is now Newfoundland. Over the course of hundreds of millions of years, as they inched their way north, the two parts came together. The story of how Britain came to be where it is now, in its current shape – from the separation of North America and Europe to the carving out of the English Channel – is still being uncovered today.

Part of the BBC’s First Life series - not currently available on iPlayer but is featured on YouTube:

• Cambrian Explosion – First Life with David Attenborough
  David Attenborough visits the Columbian Ice Field, Mistaken Point, Newfoundland and the Ediacara Hills, South Australia as he explains the development of early life forms.

BBC News reported on the:

• Tanis: Fossil of dinosaur killed in asteroid strike found
  Watch as Sir David Attenborough seeks expert help to understand the significance of the fossil leg which is complete with its skin and is just one of a series of remarkable finds emerging from the Tanis fossil site in the US State of North Dakota.

Birkbeck University has a podcast on::

• Insects and ice ages: interview with Dr Stefan Engels
  In this short podcast, Dr Stefan Engels from Birkbeck’s Department of Geography discusses his field of palaeoclimatology, focussing on abrupt climate change during and following the last ice age as seen through the eyes of insects.

The Black County Geological Society have two Silurian themed lectures on their YouTube Channel:

• Silurian Rocks of the Dingle Peninsula
  given by Ken Higgs, Emeritus Professor of Geology, University College Cork on Tuesday 16 March 2021. Professor Ken Higgs has undertaken extensive studies of the geology of the Dingle Peninsula and published the ‘Geology of the Dingle Peninsula’ by the Geological Survey of Ireland. This talk will describe the Dingle Peninsula’s dramatic 485-million-year history of environmental and climatic change.
• Saltwells and Wren’s Nest – Dudley’s SSSIs for Geology
  On Monday 16 November 2020, Alan Preece, Warden of Saltwells and Ian Beech, Warden of Wrens Nest gave the Society members and guests a View from the Wardens of these two important geological sites both now recognised as national gems.Saltwells has been designated Dudley’s second geological National Nature Reserve joining the first ever geological National Nature Reserve, Wren’s Nest.

Calvert Marine Museum Fossil Club lecture on the:

• The Rise and Fall of the Neogene Giant Sharks
  A fascinating YouTube lecture given by Dr Bretton Kent of the University of Maryland, College Park, given in 2013.

Cambridge Earth Science Library has a fascinating animation of:

• Continental drift animation centred on the UK

  which shows how the two parts of Britain have coalesced and moved across the equator during the past 450 million years.

Cape Breton University, Nova Scotia, Canada has a lecture on:

• Ordovician and Silurian
  Geology Instructor, Jason Loxton introduces the fabulous marine world of the Ordovician and Silurian… and the first of the world five great mass extinctions. There is special emphasis on the tectonic evolution of Nova Scotia and eastern North America.

Complexity Explorer (an educational project from the Santa Fe Institute) delivers online courses, tutorials, and resources essential to the study of complex systems GFYS thought this YouTube video is a useful lecture in its own right:

• Origins of Life: Evolution – Origins of Eukaryotes
  Professor David Baum, University of Wisconsin, examines the chemical, geological, physical, and biological principles that give an insight into origins of life research. In this fairly advanced talk, He looks at the chemical and geological environment of early Earth from the perspective of likely environments for life to originate.
  If you are interested in investigating the course that this video is a part of click here.

The Conversation is an independent source of news and views, sourced from the academic and research community and delivered direct to the public. GFYS was excited to read that researchers from Brighton, Bournemouth, Reading and UCL universities and English Heritage have used geochemical techniques to examine the sarsen stones at Stonehenge. A brief but informative account by the researchers is available here.

Cornell College, Iowa has produced an interesting YouTube video on the:

• Burgess Shale
  This educational (non-profit) video was produced by Professor Drew Muscente for the Historical Geology course at Cornell College. It includes excellent photos of Charles Walcott and his family during the their expeditions to the Rocky Mountains.
• Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event
  this educational, and fascinating, You Tube video was produced by Prof. Drew Muscente for the Historical Geology Course that we featured last month.

Dr Bob The Rox Dok has a YouTube Channel offering Earth Science content that covers Physical Geology and Historical Geology, but also Planetary Science including:

• The Pennsylvanian Period
  Dr Bob Leighty (Mesa Community College, Arizona) shares his lecture on the Pennsylvanian Period which forms part of his teaching in the Historical Geology course.

Dr Walter Jahn (Orange County Community College, New York State) has a YouTube channel of biology videos he uses in the classes he teaches on Anatomy & Physiology, Prehistoric Life, Genetics, Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy, & Bio for Today. GFYS recommends this video on:

• Pteraspis: a jawless fish from the Devonian
  Dr Jahn discusses the morphology of this early fish.

Edinburgh University is now the custodian of one of the greatest bodies of scientific observation from the 19th century. The Sir Charles Lyell Collection was purchased following enormous national and international support and consists, amongst other things, of 294 geological notebooks all of which can now be viewed online.

English Riviera Geopark has a YouTube Channel featuring the

• Geopark in Focus consisting of seven interviews exploring different aspects of the Geopark. GFYS especially recommends the following episodes:
  • Episode 1: Fossils and Deep time – Professor Iain Stewart talks with Mike Benton, Professor of Vertebrate Palaeontology at University of Bristol, and Dr Kevin Page, geoscience and geodiversity specialist and Honorary Associate at the University of Exeter. They take us on a journey through deep time from when the Geopark was bathed in tropical seas south of the equator hundreds of millions of years ago, explaining what the rocks can tell us about Earth’s history.
  • Episode 2: Caves – Why are the caves of The English Riviera so internationally important? Professor Iain Stewart is joined by Nick Powe, whose family have run Kents Cavern, Professor of Biology and Environmental Science Dr. Donald McFarlane of Claremont McKenna College California, and cave conservationist Tara Beacroft, discussing their shared passion for caves and how they help us to learn about Earth’s heritage and the history of humanity.
  • Episode 5: Past Climate and Sea Level Change – Professor Iain Stewart is joined by Dr Jenny Bennett, who chairs the Geology section at the Devonshire Association, and Malcolm Hart, Emeritus Professor at the University of Plymouth and Chair of the Geoscientific committee of the Geopark, to explore how past climate and sea level change has left its mark on the Geopark area, the causes of these changes and implications for the future.

University of Exeter has a ExeTalks YouTube Playlist, your chance to discover some of the fascinating research undertaken at the University of Exeter. GFYS recommend:

• Dr Robin Shail, Geology
  Dr Robin Shail, a geologist at the University of Exeter’s Camborne School of Mines talks about the resources and geology of South West England. He explains why the South West is a great place to study geology due to the continent to continent collision and plate tectonic activity which occurred 250-300 million years ago. He discusses how the prevalence of granite in the South West is now driving new green energy solutions using deep geo-thermal energy.

Liam Herringshaw has an extensive FossilHub website. The most recent post is Chalking with Dinosaurs, part 5 featuring Liam making footprints in the sands of Scarborough’s South Bay, and then hunting dinosaur footprints in the rocks of the South Cliff.

FTCC ( Fayetteville Technical Community College) – Geology Online has an interesting YouTube lecture on:

• Mesa Verde National Park – Cretaceous Geology
  Professor Margaret Menge, Delgado Community College in New Orleans, Louisiana explains that the high and dry region of Mesa Verde National Park was once under a seaway that covered most of North America, and deposited lots of Cretaceous rocks!

Friends of Imperial College YouTube channel has an Environmental Playlist which includes:

• What ancient climates tell us about our future on Earth
  presented by Professor Martin Siegert, Co-director of the Grantham Institute, Imperial College London. Data gathered in the geological record inform us about CO2 concentrations on earth and their links to sea levels. How is the data gathered? Is it reliable? What will it tell us about our future? Professor Siegert covered this and more…

The GEOCOAST YouTube Channel aims to broadcast educational videos about Ireland’s coastal and marine environments with particular focus on coastal geology and geomorphology. This lecture, is part of a series of lectures developed by Prof Robert Devoy and Dr Maxim Kozachenko from UCC to support The Costal Atlas of Ireland playlist :

• Reconstruction of past climate variations and changes in sea level during the Quaternary Period
  An interview with Professor Robert Devoy, who for most of his life taught physical geography at University College Cork. You will learn about the new discoveries that Robert has brought into Quaternary Science.

Recorded from the Geological Society of America’s 2020 online meeting:

• Late Neogene Planktic Foraminiferal given by Dr Adriane Lam of Binghamton University State University of New York.

The Geological Society has made a number of its public lecture available. Here are a few that GFYS recommend:

• April 2021 - Midlands Ice Age Geoheritage and Birmingham’s Remarkable Erratic Boulders
  Professor Ian Fairchild, University of Birmingham, discusses the formally neglected erratics of Birmingham and how these can be used to map past glacial flows.
• The Geology of Mars
  which explore the landscapes and rocks of Mars with planetary geologist, Dr Matt Balme (Open University). The Martian Rovers explore the fascinating inverted river channels, the ice-regolith glaciers, and eskers of the planet.
• Quicquid sub terra est’ – Whatever is under the Earth.
  This talk from January 2019 explores how ideas of the Earth's interior have evolved, how geophysics is giving us ever more complex images of the Earth's structure today and how geochemistry defines the processes that have produced that structure and significantly the timing of major events in planetary evolution. The modern view of the mantle is of a dynamic system in which material moves in response to secular cooling of both the mantle and core.

Geologists’ Association
GA lectures restarted after lockdown with the Halstead Lecture given by Kevin Wong (2019 prize winner) and the first GA virtual vLecture was successfully given by Dr Jon Noad live from Canada over Zoom on 10 July. For the duration of the COVID-19 lockdown all the GA lectures are freely available to view here.

Geologists’ Association Student Symposium 2021
The GA Student Symposium (GASS) took place over 20 & 21 May 2021 and Presentations and Keynotes are now available to view to presenters, delegates and GA Members here.

Geologists’ Association South Wales Group has two lectures that GFYS recommend:

• Mary Anning: monsters, myths and misfortunes – available now
  Tom Sharpe, a long standing member of the South Wales Group has kindly agreed to his highly informative lecture being recorded and it will be available on the website for the next few months.
  N.B. You can catch up with the Natural History Museum campaign for the Mary Anning statue in Lyme Regis here.
• Coming out from the shadow of the dinosaurs: a new look at the first mammals
  In case you missed this fascinating talk, this is the link to Dr. Pam Gill talking about research on early mammals, some of which are from South Wales.

This talk from January 2019 explores how ideas of the Earth's interior have evolved, how geophysics is giving us ever more complex images of the Earth's structure today and how geochemistry defines the processes that have produced that structure and significantly the timing of major events in planetary evolution. The modern view of the mantle is of a dynamic system in which material moves in response to secular cooling of both the mantle and core.

Geology at Cowbridge has a YouTube lecture on:

• Quaternary Fossils
  A well explained introduction to Quaternary fossils from the geology department at Cowbridge Comprehensive School.

Geology Bites - Oliver Strimpel, a former astrophysicist and museum director, asks leading researchers to divulge what they have discovered and how they did this, podcast conversations include what moves the continents, creates mountains, swallows up the sea floor, makes volcanoes erupt, triggers earthquakes, and imprints ancient climates into the rocks? So far, GFYS have listened to and highly recommend:

• Clare Warren on Divining the History of a Rock.
  Clare Warren is Senior Lecturer in the School of Environment, Earth and Ecosystem Sceinces at the Open University. She investigates how, when and why metamorphic rocks record their history, and, specifically, when different geological clocks start and stop 'ticking'. Using such clocks, together with detailed geochemistry, she uncovers the temperatures and pressures experienced throughout a rock's history. She applies this knowledge to work out just what happens when continents collide and mountains form.
• Resolving a Single Hour of the Cataclysm 66 Million Years Ago
  Jan Smit is Emeritus Professor of Event Stratigraphy at the Free University of Amsterdam. He became intrigued by what appeared to be extremely sudden events in the fossil record, especially at the boundary between the Cretaceous and the Paleogene, known as the KT boundary. He describes the unprecedented discovery of a thick surge deposit in North Dakota containing an extraordinarily well-preserved assemblage of fossils that document the final moments of the Cretaceous. 
• Mission to the Martian Moon Photos
  Tomo Usui is leading the science team for the 2024 Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s mission to Phobos, which will land, collect samples, and return them to Earth in 2029. In this latest podcast, he talks about the ejecta from Mars that are expected to be present in the sample as these will be our first-ever non-meteoritic Martian samples.
• Reconstructing Plate Motions Over a Billion Years of Earth History
  given by Professor Dietmar Müller. Professor Müller and his team built GPlates, a powerful software tool enabling researchers to synthesise diverse sets of geological data into a self-consistent reconstruction of the Earth’s tectonic history. In February 2021, his team published an animated billion-year plate reconstruction, which has had an enormous impact on the public.
• Claude Jaupart on Whether the Earth is Cooling Down
  The Earth is losing heat. Claude Jaupart has measured the heat flowing up through the top layers of the crust by making measurements down hundreds of boreholes. But the Earth also continues to generate heat through radioactive decay of elements such as potassium, uranium and thorium
• Steve D’Hondt on Reviving a 100-Million-Year-Old Bacterial Colony
  How long can living cells survive in buried sediments? It turns out that bacteria, at least, can survive for at least 100 million years in sediments below the sea floor with barely any access to food. Had they been alive and reproducing all that time, or were they in suspended animation in a kind of hibernation? Steve D’Hondt (Professor of Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island) explains how any plausible explanation pushes the boundaries of what we previously believed about how long cells can survive.
• Paul Hoffman on the Snowball Earth Hypothesis
  Paul Hoffman is Emeritus Professor of Geology at Harvard University. His research on the sedimentary rocks of Namibia revealed compelling evidence of glaciation at sea level in the tropics about 650 million years ago. In this podcast he explains what convinced him that the Earth was almost completely glaciated twice in its history.
• Richard Fortey on the Trilobite Chronometer
  Richard Fortey is formerly head of arthropod palaeontology at the Natural History Museum in London and is visiting professor of paleobiology at Oxford University. He has devoted much of his research career to the study of trilobites — their systematics, evolution, and modes of life — and has named numerous trilobite species. In this podcast, he outlines their extraordinary 300-million-year history, from when they are first found in the Cambrian, and explains what made them such excellent markers of geological time.
• The Evolution of Minerals
  
Bob Hazen, Senior Staff Scientist at the Earth and Planets Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution for Science and Professor of Earth Sciences at George Mason University, discuses the formation of minerals. During the course of Earth history, new types of rock have appeared as the Earth cooled and plates formed and started to move and interact. The different rock types reflect the particular assemblage that composed them. But what about the minerals themselves?

Geology Johnson investigates:

• Whats That Rock?! Episode 1; Jurassic Yorkshire
  Dr Brooke Johnson, Oxford, looks at photos of a mystery rock sent in by viewers, identifies the minerals and fossils and describes how the rock formed. Learn the secrets of Jurassic Yorkshire!

Geoscience Australia
Geoscience Australia hosts public talks for a range of audiences. A selection of these are filmed and are available online. GFYS selected and highly recommends the following fascinating talk from the 2020 series:

• What goes up must come down: Why is Australia sinking?
  Anna Riddell from the University of Tasmania uses some of her PhD research to discuss the apparent sinking of the Australian continent. Understanding how the surface of the earth changes has many important applications and this talk explores how the Australian plate is moving and what that means for applications of precise positioning.

GeoWeek 2021 was held 1 – 9 May 2021 with a theme of  ‘Net zero by 2050 – what will it mean for your region?’ The thought provoking launch event was recorded & can be viewed here, with the supporting slides accessible here.

The GeoModels
Provide access to a wide variety of sandbox modelling of common and the not so common geological and geomorphological features. GFYS recommends –

• Growth and erosion of an orogenic wedge, and
• Gravitational failure of model volcanoes

Nina Morgan got in touch with GFYS to say ‘A Rockwatch member recommended our gravestone geology work.’ Watch

• Gravestone Geology
  A brief introduction bringing Cemeteries to life and viewing cemeteries in a completely different way.

Imperial College had an interesting event that caught GFYS’ eye

• Science Breaks: How the shark lost its bones (and maybe why)
  Sharks are primordial animals, unchanged for over 400 million years of evolution—or at least that is the received wisdom. Dr Martin Brazeau (Imperial College) will explain how new fossil discoveries are challenging this view and are providing a unique window into the ancestry of vertebrate animals.

Into Eternity is a feature documentary film directed by Danish director Michael Madsen, which follows the construction of the Onkalo waste repository at the Olkiluoto Nuclear Power Plant on the island of Olkiluoto, Finland. A powerful insight into such long-term projects (160 years to build and fill).

The Lapworth Museum of Geology has a full & varied programme of free public lectures and events. These are proving very popular so GFYS recommends that you bookmark this site & visit it frequently so you don’t miss out (see Online courses below for something a little different).

Leading nicely onto the Lapworth Museum's object of the month:

• Hemicyclaspis murchisoni
  Plamen, a PhD student at the University of Birmingham in 2013, describes this bizarre looking fossil fish, his choice as Object of the Month from the Lapworth Museum of Geology.

Leicester Museums and Galleries has produced two interesting YouTube videos on:

• The Charnia Fossil (Part One: Charnia Discovery)A short film and interview with Roger Mason who discovered the Charnia Fossil (Charnia masoni) in Charnwood Forest, Leicestershire (UK) in 1957.
• The Charnia Fossil (Part Two: The Future of Charnia)Second part of the Charnia films about the Charnia Fossil (Charnia masoni) discovered in Leicestershire (UK) in 1957, recognised as one of the world’s oldest fossils.
  There are many more interesting videos in this series entitled Dinosaur Gallery Star Objects.

The Lyme Regis Fossil & Earth Science Festival includes a 2021 Festival lecture on:

• The Geological Structural Evolution of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site
  Vincent Sheppard, Jurassic Coast Trust Ambassador guides us through the multiple tectonic events that have affected the Jurassic coast through its geological history. From being land locked in a super-continent to being caught up in the subsequent extensional and compressional tectonic phases, this talk aims to explain this complex structural evolution with reference to the topography we see today.

The Manchester Geological Association are holding a mixture of indoor and online lectures. Whilst you can attend these lectures, they are not available to view afterwards. Please register for these talks by contacting the Association at lectures@mangeolassoc.org.uk. GFYS recommends you visit this site on a regular basis to make sure you don’t miss out.

Manchester University has two YouTube videos on:

• Graptolites, Video 1
  Dr Russell Garwood, Senior Lecturer at Manchester University introduces graptolites, and more generally hemichordates, and looks at the group’s fossil record.
• Graptolites, Video 2
  Dr Russell Garwood discusses the morphology of graptolites, and the two major subdivisions.

Natural History Museum
Nature Live Online delivers live talks with NHM scientists on Tuesdays at 12.00 and Fridays at 10.30 am (BST). It is possible to ask questions in real-time during the talk by going to the video on YouTube and typing your question into the chat box. Once aired, you can rewatch talks on NHM’s Nature Live playlist on YouTube. These include:

• Volcanoes – covering causes of volcanic eruptions, reasons for volcanic locations and eruption prediction.
• Back to the Future – How fossils can help predict the future
• Is water on Mars? – Scientists have found exciting evidence for liquid water on Mars. What does this mean for the search for life there?
• Discovering Dinosaurs with Susie Maidment, Joe Bonsor & David Button
  Scientists are using state-of-the-art technology to discover not only what dinosaurs looked like but how they moved, ate and lived millions of years ago. This edition of Lates Online explores how new technology can reveal secrets from very old bones, and includes a fun quiz.

The NHM also has great resources for the younger geologist. See our GeoFun section for details.

Nature has a YouTube channel covering a range of topics. GFYS found:

• Fossilised glider takes the origin of mammals back to the Triassic
  A new fossil specimen of Vilevolodon diplomylos, an ancient herbivore similar to a flying squirrel, may push the origin of mammals back millions of years earlier than previously thought. Vilevolodon is a haramiyid, an ancient group of animals that lived during the Mesozoic era. Until recently they were only known through a few fossilised teeth, but new finds are shedding more light on these enigmatic creatures.

North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences

• Virtual Science Cafe: Dawn of the Dinosaurs: New Discoveries from the Triassic
  Dr. Christian Kammerer, Research Curator of Paleontology, North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences discusses some of the remarkable early members of the dinosaurian lineage, including some small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. He explains how Recent Triassic fossil discoveries are revealing new and surprising information about the origins of the Mesozoic Era’s most famous animals.

The Nova Scotia Museum showcases some of the best examples of:

• Nova Scotia Fossils and Geology
  GFYS recommends that you watch all five episodes of this YouTube series.

OpenLearn has a mini Lecture on:

• How old is a mountain range?
  Dr Eleni Wood explains how the science of ‘geochronology’ can be used to effectively analyse the history of a mountain range, based on the Himalayan Mountain range during fieldwork in Bhutan.When we think about mountains, we might think about them being constant, permanent features of our landscapes. However, through geology, we know this isn’t the case. Mountains grow in the collision zones between plates over millions of years, but their presence is only transient as they are slowly eroded away again.

University of Oxford
A series of podcasts recorded between 2010 and 2016 are available, covering subjects ranging from:

• Hot stuff, how volcanoes work, to
• Understanding fracking for shale gas

GFYS particularly liked the lecture on:

• The Biogeography of Madagascar: A Gondwanan island 
  by Dr MaM Friedman which looks at the evolution of the unique flora and fauna of Madagascar and how these are linked to the geological history of the island.

Oxford Geoheritage Virtual Conference
hosted by Oxford University Museum of Natural History took place between 6-9 June 2022 and this year's talks, as well as previous years, can now be viewed on the conferences YouTube Channel. The excellent extended talk by Dr Jack Mathews (a member of the organising committee) entitled Don’t walk on the rocks! exploring the increasingly important field of geoconservation is still available to view.

Oxford University Museum of Natural History has a large number of informative, fascinating lectures nad video clips on their YouTube channel. GFYS especially enjoyed:

• The Cambrian Explosion and the evolutionary origin of animals
  Museum director Professor Paul Smith looks at the beginning of animal life, with particular attention to the Sirius Passet fossil site in the north of Greenland. The exceptionally preserved fossils from this site have been key in the development of the understanding of the ‘Cambrian Explosion’. Paul discusses evidence for the timing of the origin of animals, as well as the evolution of modern marine ecosystems and food webs. Prepare to journey back in time more than half a billion years…
  ​​​​​​​N.B. The Museum states that this lecture may not be suitable for young children, but is suitable for adults and young people – beginners and experts welcome!
• Extraordinary soft-bodied fossils highlight the Cambrian explosion
  The discovery of soft-bodied fossils at sites such as the Burgess Shale in Canada and Chengjiang in China have revealed that a remarkable diversity of animals evolved in the oceans more than 500 million years ago. This lecture provides a personal perspective, considering why exceptionally preserved fossils are well represented in Cambrian compared to later Palaeozoic rocks and what they tell us about the evolution of marine life.

Palaeocast is a YouTube series exploring the fossil record and evolution of life on earth. GYFS found a fascinating talk on:

• Rooted in Earth history: the Devonian transition to a forested planet
  presented by Christopher M. Berry, William E. Stein, Peter Giesen, John E. A. Marshall and Honghe Xu which was recorded at the 59th Annual Meeting of the Palaeontological Association, Cardiff, in 2016
  
• Early Tetrapod Feeding Mechanics
  Early tetrapod research was pioneered by Professor Jenny Clack. She did a lot of early field work and description, understanding this transition process better than anyone. In this fascinating podcast, Dr Laura Porro, who was then at University College London, talks about her work on early tetrapod feeding and skull mechanics, and how the skull changed over the water-to-land transition, work which was done with and inspired Professor Clack.

Quantamagazine is an editorially independent online publication launched by the Simons Foundation to enhance public understanding of science. What’s Up in Q&A features The New Historian of the Smash That Made the Himalayas which includes a fascinating video on

• Plate Tectonics: The Mystery of Earth’s Many Faces
  where Lucía Pérez-Díaz explores the mysteries of plate tectonics, solving the mystery of India’s sudden acceleration by showing that it didn’t really exist.

Geology author Roger Cordiner has a YouTube presence which includes a lecture on:

• Cretaceous and Palaeogene Geology of Chichester Harbour
  Roger explains the Cretaceous and Palaeogene Geology of Chichester Harbour. It shows the wide variety of sedimentary rocks and fossils which can be found The harbour is located on the low lying Sussex Coastal Plain which is underlain by the lower raised beach, formed about 120,000 years ago. Exposures of the underlying strata are mainly found along the east side of harbour channels and across the adjacent foreshore.

The Royal Ballet School
For something a little different, Year 9 students at The Royal Ballet School can be watched taking part in a Plate Tectonic Stories Competition.

Another YouTube Lecture from the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology but this time from its’ 2018 Speaker Series on:

• The World’s Best Preserved Armoured Dinosaur
  Dr. Caleb Brown, Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology, talks about the world’s best preserved armoured dinosaur. Borealopelta markmitchelli was discovered in the oil sands mines in northern Alberta in 2011 and took nearly six years to prepare. Borealopelta is the best-preserved ankylosaur (tank-like, herbivorous dinosaurs) in the world and one of the most spectacular fossilized dinosaurs ever found.

The Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology has a YouTube Channel with a Speaker Series Playlist. GFYS recommend:of Canada 2019 speaker presents:

• Archaeopteryx: The World’s Most Famous Bird
  Dr. Jon Noad (Gran Tierra Energy) discusses the palaeontological history of Archaeopteryx and its ecological niche in the Late Jurassic world.Detailed comparative anatomy has shown the similarity of Archaeopteryx to birds and small theropod dinosaurs. The superb preservation of the Solnhofen fossils shows their plumage, and recent studies have provided evidence for the colour, and potential for flight.
• The Cretaceous-Palaeogene Mass Extinction: What Do We Really Know?
  Dr François Therrien, Curator of Dinosaur Palaeoecology gives a well-illustrated talk about the theories for the mass extinction.

The Smithsonian Education YouTube Channel features:

• Clues to the End-Permian Extinction
  Palaeoecologist Dr Conrad Labandeira from the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) in Washington, travels to the Karoo Basin of South Africa to find leaf fossils from the Permian-Triassic boundary, the time of the Earth’s largest mass extinction. What can bug bites on the leaves tell us about the food web during a global upheaval? What can they tell us about our own uncertain times?

Scottish Geology
sponsored by the Scottish Geology Trust has a very comprehensive website with some superb Online Resources (you are asked to consider giving a small donation to the Trust).

The Society of Popular Astronomy (SPA) hosts an excellent lecture on:

• Rovers and landers on Mars
  given by Susanne Schwenzer, of the Open University, about NASA’s Curiosity Rover investigations of the surface of Mars.

More from the The Shear Zone
• Geology of NW Scotland an introduction
Professor Rob Butler, University of Aberdeen, gives an outline of the geology of NW Scotland, including the NW Highlands Geopark – with specific reference to the Moine Thrust Belt.

TED ( Technology, Entertainment and Design) has a series of lectures we think are worth mentioning:

• How do crystals work? from June 2019
  
Many crystals have signature shapes— like the cascade of pointed quartz or a pile of galena cubes. Every crystal’s atoms have a defining feature: their organised, repeating pattern. Graham Baird dives into the unique properties of crystals.
• What is the Anthropocene? from June 2016
  Humanity’s increasingly permanent mark on the planet has spurred a new geological age in earth’s history: the Anthropocene. Learn how we got to this point — and what our footprint means to the future of the planet.
• Hunting for dinosaurs showed me our place in the universe from February 2016
  Palaeontologist Kenneth Lacovara describes discovering Dreadnoughtus, a 77-million-year-old sauropod, and discusses how dinosaur huntng encourages humans to contemplate their place in deep time. indent for consistency

Teme Valley Geological Society (TVGS) are sharing their January talk on:

• Ice Age ponds and glacial landscapes in western Herefordshire
  the talk was given by Ian Fairchild to the TVGS on the 18 January 2021, and is available on their YouTube channel. Professor Fairchild discusses lowland glacial landforms, including kettleholes and moraines, which can be seen in the Herefordshire landscape.

UKFall – The UK Fireball Alliance

• UKFall: recovering the UK’s next meteorite
  GFYS found this YouTube seminar by this recently affiliated group fascinating. Dr Ashley King and Dr Luke Daly discuss some of the activities of UKFall, which is a collaboration of the UK’s meteor camera networks and aims to recover freshly-fallen meteorites in the UK.

University of Cape Town (UTC) runs a Summer School each year & we found an interesting YouTube lecture from their Summer School 2019 on

• Geological superlatives in Africa 1
  John Rogers discuses Geological Adventures in the Fairest Cape. This first of a five-lecture series is a superb talk on the geology of the Western Cape, particularly the Cape Peninsula

University of Edinburgh share their vision and progress towards the digitisation of Charles Lyell’s notebooks:

• Introducing Charles Lyell’s World Online
  Lyell was widely credited with establishing geology as a popular and rigorous science. He was known internationally for his bestselling books and travels around Britain, Europe and Eastern North America. It is a life and a world recorded in detail in his extensive historic archives, which include notebooks, letters and literary works. Together they offer insights not only into Lyell’s life and work, but glimpses of his wider world.
  Continue to keep up to date with the Lyell Collection via the University’s Lyell Blog or the GA Link to the Lyell Collection.

Warwickshire Geological Conservation Group (WGCG) has a number of their talks available on YouTube:

• The Geology of Arran
  Stuart Blake of the Lochranza Field Studies Centre visits some of the best geology on Arran.
• Henry Clifton Sorby, Sheffield’s Greatest Scientist – given by Noel Worley in April 2021 Outside Sheffield, and outside geology and metallurgy the name Henry Clifton Sorby is little known and even within these circles all that is known by many is the name. This is not surprising but it is regrettable for apart from his outstanding achievements in a wide variety of scientific fields the life of the man is interesting from a number of viewpoints. (Biography, Norman Higham). Sorby’s geological accomplishments have since undergone a reprise with international scientific recognition in the fields of sedimentology, fluid inclusion geochemistry, structural geology and cosmology.
• Geological Time & The Anthropocene – given by Ian Fairchild, Emeritus Professor, (University of Birmingham) in February 2021
  There is little doubt that mankind’s impact on the natural environment has increased dramatically in recent decades but … are we now living in a new epoch of geological time: the Anthropocene? Concepts from Earth System Science agree with stratigraphic markers that we went outside the range of conditions of the Holocene in the last 70 years, but does the term Anthropocene belong to geologists anyway
  • A very British summer in the late Triassic: torrential rain, the Arden Sandstone and the dawn of the dinosaurs
  A lecture by Stuart Burley, Emeritus Professor of Keele University.
  There were extreme variations in the Triassic climate thought to be consequential of volcanic eruptions in western North America. These volcanic eruptions resulted in huge amounts of carbon dioxide being released into the late Triassic atmosphere, leading to increased rainfall, global warming and rapid, ocean acidification, turning a dry world dominated by large deserts in central part of the Pangaea super-continent, into much wetter and humid environments. Flash floods across the Triassic Mercia Mudstone Group created evaporitic lakes which were fed by the rivers of the Arden Sandstone.
• Introduction to Iceland Geology – available now given by Stuart Blake (LochRanza Field Centre).
  Stuart discusses the topography and geology of Iceland as well as predicting the Geldingadalur volcanic eruption. Highly recommended by GFYS & why not supplement this with the live feed of the volcano courtesy of the The Icelandic National Broadcasting Service – Ríkisútvarpið, or RÚV for short

Where on Earth do you live? is a YouTube Playlist produced by Dr Anjana Khatwa also known as JurassicGirl:

• Slough is the first talk which explores the heritage and geological stories of Jurrasicgirl’s hometown. There are some interesting revelations about what lies beneath the houses of this busy and urban town.

Wolverhampton Arts & Culture YouTube Channel has an interesting item on

• Sir Roderick Murchison
  Graham Worton, the curator and keeper of geology at the sadly closed Dudley Museum & Art Gallery, tells us about the famous Scottish geologist Sir Roderick Murchison.

The Yorkshire Geological Society (YGS) is currently holding lectures online. Whilst non-members can attend, these lectures are not available to view afterwards. GFYS recommends you visit the YGS site on a regular basis to make sure you don’t miss out.

Nick Zentner – Nick From Home
Join Nick for one of his seventy-five GEOL 101 Lectures given from his home in Ellensburg, Washington, GFYS specifically liked:

• Livestream #41 – Minerals
  Nick describes common rock-forming minerals and their identification using cleavage planes, hardness and other tests in an enjoyable and informative way.
• Livestream #73 Oregon Geology during which Nick talks to Oregon geologists Marli Miller, Carrie Gordon, and Ellen Bishop.
• Livestream #75 Craters of the Moon which discusses Idaho’s ‘Craters of the Moon’ National Monument.

Nick has also resumed his prolific and informative Nick from home talks, looking at 26 (one for every letter in the alphabet) Exotic Terrains. He starts with:

• Exotic A, Geological Time.