Oregon Gems of the Rice Museum

/
Oregon Gems of the Rice Museum

Rice Museum curator Leslie Moclock is in charge of the museum’s education curriculum. In the course of her educational presentations, she finds that kids always ask deceptively tricky questions like, “Why are minerals the color that they are?” Moclock enjoys this part of her work because answering these questions opens doors to doing research. Examples of research topics she has pursued include two famous Oregon gemstones, opal (notably from Opal Butte in Morrow County) and sunstones (from Ponderosa and Plush area mines). 

Read More

Thomas Condon's Fossil Collection

/
Thomas Condon's Fossil Collection

Professor Emeritus and Condon Collection Curator Dr. William Orr spoke to GSOC on May 12 about Thomas Condon’s fossils. This collection was assembled for teaching and reference and ranks with the best collections for stratigraphic continuity and taxonomic breadth. Many specialists from around the world come to the University of Oregon to study its fossils.
Photo: Thomas Condon with his pals Dr. Bill Orr (left) and GSOC President Rik Smoody (right).

Read More

Traveling Oregon’s Geologic Highways and Byways with Dr. Marli Miller

/
Traveling Oregon’s Geologic Highways and Byways with Dr. Marli Miller

Synopsis of GSOC Friday night lecture, October 9, 2015, given by Dr. Marli Miller, University of Oregon Department of Geology and author of Roadside Geology of Oregon, Second Edition (Mountain Press Publishing Co., 2014).
by Carol Hasenberg

Dr. Marli Miller explained and gave examples of her recent book, Roadside Geology of Oregon, Second Edition, to one of GSOC’s largest audiences ever. The book was a 4 year project from which Miller laughingly said that she learned an embarrassingly large amount of material. Amongst her reviewers for the project were Portland State University professors Martin Streck and Scott Burns. The Second Edition is a long awaited rewrite of the classic Roadside Geology of Oregon by David Alt and Donald Hyndman, written in 1978.

Photo credit: Marli Bryant Miller

Read More