These were some of our featured presentations for 2006.

SATURDAY at 1:00 PM - In the Meeting Room

Learn about the basics of minerals and mineral collecting. This talk is aimed at kids or anyone with a beginning interest in minerals. He’ll show specimens to illustrate the difference between a rock and a mineral, how you use the properties of minerals to tell them apart, and "what else every collector needs to know".

Dr. Peter J. Modreski is a geochemist with the U.S. Geological Survey. He has worked for the USGS in Denver for 23 years. His specialties include mineralogy, mineral deposits, gemstones, and igneous petrology. Pete's work has included the study of mines, caves, volcanoes, and geology in Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Hawaii, Poland, and Russia. He is the USGS geologic resource specialist for gemstones, as well as abrasives, quartz, beryllium, cesium, and rubidium. Pete is a co-author of the book, "Minerals of Colorado", published in 1997, and he is an Executive Editor of Rocks and Minerals magazine, and a Research Associate with the Geology Department, Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Pete is presently responsible for public communication and educational outreach for the USGS, and he has given numerous lectures, workshops, classes, and field trips for schools, teachers, professional groups, and the general public.

The Society of Mineral Museum Professionals "SMMP" will be doing a special case on "How to take care of your collection" This case will include specimens from their member museums that have been damaged by various means, and text describing the best storage and handling methods for minerals.

SATURDAY at 2:00 PM - In the Meeting Room

Cal attended the Colorado School of mines and graduated with a degree in Geology and Mining Engineering in 1972. That same year Cal was hired by Bill Larson to help run the Pala Properties mineral dealership, and in 1980 he left to form his own business, Cal Graeber Fine Minerals. He deals in fine mineral specimens, appraises collections, and provides professional cleaning and trimming services. Cal has traveled the world in search of specimens, and has been involved in various small mining projects, including operations in Tanzania for gem-grade spinel, and in Baja California for tourmaline; his current project involves mining for green fluorite at the Rogerley mine in Durham, England. Cal and Florida dealer Leonard Himes are exclusive agents for Coromoto Minerals, a company involved in mining tourmaline and other gem species at Mt. Mica in Oxford County, Maine.

SATURDAY at 3:00 PM - In the Meeting Room

Dr. Jean DeMouthe holds degrees in Geology and Science Education from Humboldt State University (BS), San Francisco State University (MA), and the University of California at Berkeley (Ed.D.). Currently, she is Senior Collections Manager for Geology at the California Academy of Sciences, where she has worked for 30 years, and also as a consulting engineering geologist. She is an active member of a number of geologic and museum conservation organizations and has published and lectured on various subjects related to geology and specimen conservation. Dr. DeMouthe teaches museum studies courses in Collections Management, the Conservation of Natural History Collections and Museum Conservation & Restoration.

SATURDAY at 8:00 PM - Saturday night Special Event Lecture

Dr. Michael Wise is a research mineralogist/curator with the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. He holds a BA degree in Environmental Science from the University of Virginia and a PhD from the University of Manitoba. Mike has worked at the Natural History Museum since 1988 and his research specialty is the mineralogy, petrology and geochemistry of pegmatites. He spends a great deal of time in the field and laboratory trying to understand how pegmatites form, with much of his work focusing on pegmatites in the Appalachian mountains, southern California, Nevada and the Northwest Territories, Canada. He is also currently investigating the mineralogy of the Hiddenite emerald deposit in North Carolina. Mike is a consulting editor for Rocks and Minerals magazine and an adjunct professor at the University of New Orleans.

SUNDAY at 1:00 PM - In the Meeting Room

A slide show presentation of the Purple Passion Mine & the Hogan Claim, along with a discussion of current events in respect to fluorescent specimen collecting.

Bill graduated with a B.A. in Geology from the University of Massachusetts in 1977, and an A.S. in Engineering Science from Greenfield Community College, in 1983. He received a U.S. NCR Reactor Operators License while working for Yankee Atomic Electric Plant in 1992 and currently works at the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station. Bill is half owner of four mining claims and he occasionally finds time to mine new material. Two of the mines, the Purple Passion mine and the Hogan Claim produce some very interesting fluorescent specimens with various combinations of fluorescent calcite, willemite, fluorite, aragonite, and smithsonite. The other two Claims, the Spectrum and Prism mines, produce combinations of barite, fluorite, amethyst, and wulfenite. Bill also manufactures various models of ultraviolet lamps under the business name of Way Too Cool and he has several US Patents pending for designs of unique UV lamps.

SUNDAY at 2:30 PM - In the Meeting Room

Wyoming, where more antelope than people still roam, dinosaur bones hundreds of millions of years old poke out of the rolling range land.

Brent is Museum Director/Curator of the University of Wyoming Geological Museum. He did his undergraduate work in geology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and graduate work in vertebrate paleontology at the University of Wyoming. His research interests include Mesozoic and Cenozoic Era lower vertebrate fossils, taphonomy, and using paleontology in science education.

Events for other years can be seen here:

2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004

 

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