PLANETARY GEOLOGY : 

           The United States and Russia and several outher countries/organizations have long-term Solar System exploration programs. These undertakings provided detailed imaging at a variety of scales of all planets and major satellites except Pluto/Charon. Many more NASA and other projects are currently underway. Landings on Venus (Russia), Mars (U. S.) and the Moon (Russia and U. S.) greatly enriched the available imagery with rock samples and/or analyses.

            How is this voluminous information to be interpreted? The only way to comprehend most of it is to place it within the context of our understanding of the Earth. That field of endeavor is Planetary Geology. The persons most adept at interpreting features of other planets and satellites would be those who are most adept at interpreting similar features on the Earth.

            I enjoy public speaking and consider it a service to the university and community. Planetary Geology has become a passion and I enjoy sharing that passion. I like meeting people with similar interests and exchanging observations and ideas. Offering public lectures is an excellent way of accomplishing those goals.

SETTING AND/OR AUDIENCE :

            I prefer audiences ranging in size from 30 to 300. In general, the larger the better. A good public-address system must accompany larger audiences or situations where room acoustics are poor and/or background noise is excessive. If necessary, I can bring a small PA system. Any room must accommodate showing of slides in thr format of PowerPoint. A good projection system and an adequately-sized screen are essential. Ideally, I would need only to bring a flash drive, a CD or my laptop computer and a laser pointer. 

            I've spoken to a wide variety of audiences. In general, the more knowledgeable the audience, the more I enjoy the experience. An audience might include university faculty and students. Seminars with graduate and/or advanced undergraduate students and interested visitors would be fine. Adult education groups can be enjoyable. Scientific organizations such as geological societies, natural history associations, or astronomical societies are appropriate. Actually, any nonprofit gathering in the interest in science would be appropriate. Adjusting the level of the talk to an audience is difficult and I would consult with the program chairman.

SUBJECT MATERIAL :

            Presentations will lie within the field of planetary geology and reference to the Earth will constitute a substantial part of most talks. Most earthly features will be from western America. Ideally, I will have some first-hand experience with cited examples. Some examples may be from the literature or satellite imagery.

            Presentations to university audiences or to groups with specific interests will be more detailed, provocative and directed toward those interests. Talks to a general audience might include a tour of the solar system, an assessment of dangers associated with asteroid or comet impacts, the extinction of Dinosaurs by asteroid impact or the origin and variety of meteorites and other space objects. In what might your group be interested? Look over the lists of past presentations. Do any fit your needs? I can cover a vast array of topics not indicated on those lists, but it might take additional preparation. Do you have a selected topic? Tell me about your topic and the audience. If I feel comfortable, I'll do it. If not, I'll tell you.

HOW TO REQUEST :

           It's easy. Read over the previous sections, see if your needs fit mine and send me a note. Try to cover the points listed below, as I'll ultimately want to know. E-mail communications are preferred.

Organization (explain briefly, if not readily evident).
Date, time and location of talk. Please check the schedule to see if your date is open.
Estimated audience size and nature of the locale.
Subject of the talk (negotiable). Have you checked the "Subject Material" section?

Gary L. Peterson, Department of Geological Sciences
San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182-1020
Phone: (619) 594-5594; FAX: (619) 594-4372

gpeterson@geology.sdsu.edu
Planets_Plus@yahoo.com (preferred)