Earth on the Rocks

On the season 2 midseason finale we welcome Molly Karnes, a stable isotope ecologist and lab technician. Hear about a new regional drink - Cheerwine, using shark teeth (both modern and ancient) to understand the...

Joining the show today is Janie Wittmer, a PhD student focusing on hydrogeochemistry. Hear what happens if you were to drink incredibly pure water (hint: it's not great), what life is like in environmental consulting...

Joining us today is the newly minted Dr. Danielle (Danny) Peltier, a paleontologist or geologist/paleoanthropologist that studies human evolution through time. Ever wondered what it means when someone says they've...

Joining us today is Dr. Ginny Gong, an observational and earthquake seismologist studying what causes earthquakes and what they can tell us about our planet. Learn about white coffee, how we can tell the structure of...

Join us today to hear from Dr. Peter Sauer, a low-temperature geochemist who specializes in stable isotopes and organic chemistry. Learn about his work on Earth's surface that encompasses living things, geology, and...

Join us today to hear from Dr. Erika Elswick, a low temperature geochemist and Director of the IU Field Station. Learn about the aggressive squirrels in the Grand Canyon, museum work, legacy mines and Superfund sites...

On this episode, hear from Owen Madsen, a current Ph.D. candidate studying paleontology and self-proclaimed professional question asker. Learn about the Gray Fossil Site, an unusually fossil-rich site in eastern...

Join us as we talk with Dr. Paul Staten, an atmospheric and climate dynamicist interested in large-scale wind patterns that impact weather and climate. Hear about the importance of the winds near the tropics for our...

We have a few surprises for our season 1 finale featuring Dr. Kaj Johnson, a geophysicist studying earthquakes remotely. Hear about Kaj's journey into the field, the connection between show choirs and teaching, listen...

Dr. Arndt Schimmelmann joins us today, a geochemist focusing on organics in both natural systems and when developing lab standards. Listen in to hear about a couple of close calls in the lab, exciting field work in...

On the show today is Dr. Claudia Johnson, a geobiologist studying ecosystems of the past and present to understand what adaptations things like corals have made to survive environmental changes over geologic time. Hear...

Joining us today is Dr. David Lilien, a glaciologist studying glaciers and ice sheets and how ice moves. Learn about party ice - popping and fizzy glacier ice, how ice flows and moves (and how we measure it!), what goes...

Joining us today is Dr. Chanh Kieu, an atmospheric scientist using modeling and machine learning to understand weather phenomena, particularly hurricane intensity and prediction. Listen to learn more about all that goes...

On today's show we have Dr. Elizabeth Kenderes, an igneous petrologist interested in the stories that lavas and igneous rocks may tell about how or why a volcano erupted (or didn't!). Hear about some weird volcanoes...

On the show today is Dr. Simon Brassell, a molecular biogeochemist who specializes in organic matter and isotope geochemistry. Hear about his revolutionary work that has earned him the nickname "the Godfather of...

We are back for the second half of our first season! Joining us to kick things off is Dr. Paul Goddard, a climate scientist and modeler who looks at how Earth may react to CO2 emissions and how we may combat some of...

On our midseason finale we hear from Dr. Brian Yanites, a geomorphologist looking at how changes on Earth's surface can impact or are impacted by people, weather, animals, and even ore deposits. Learn a little bit about...

Joining us today is Dr. Cody Kirkpatrick, a meteorologist who is interested in weather phenomena and related events. We hear about the Golden Guide that set his course, some aspects of storm chasing (and storm...

Joining us today is Dr. Jackson Njau, a paleoanthropologist working to understand how early humans evolved and why. Hear about his work in Olduvai Gorge, a key anthropology site in Tanzania, how our brains have grown...

Today we get to know Dr. Travis O'Brien, a climate scientist who looks at and models extreme weather and other climate phenomena that could impact our day-to-day lives. We get to hear about some of his more recent work...

Joining us today is Dr. Ed Herrmann, a microbiologist by training who is a geoarchaeologist by way of the pharmaceutical industry and beer brewing. His geoarchaeology work draws on and builds from his experience and...

Listen in today and get to know Dr. Julia Kelson, a sedimentary geochemist looking at past Earth climates. Julia talks us through how she entered the field (you might say it runs in the family), some of her field...

Today Dr. Michael Hamburger, an earthquake seismologist and hazards specialist, joins us. We'll hear about his atypical journey into the geosciences, some incredible field experiences, and his time rubbing elbows with...

Today we get to chat with Dr. Andrea Stevens Goddard, a low-temperature thermochronologist (and proud Hoosier!) looking at how sediment is moved and stored in geologic basins.

Welcome to Earth on the Rocks with your host, me - Dr. Shelby Rader! On this episode, we dive in to what to expect for the rest of the season and hear a bit about how I ended up in the field.