Author Archives: Daniel Doctor

GSW Spring Field Trip to Great Falls, June 6th

Posted on May 28, 2026 | Comments Off on GSW Spring Field Trip to Great Falls, June 6th

Dear Members of the Geological Society of Washington,

We are pleased to invite you to the Spring Geological Society of Washington Field Trip on Saturday June 6th to The Billy Goat Trail at Great Falls. The trip will be led by USGS geologists Alan Pitts, Peter Valley, Alex Gray… and any other fun folks we convince to come along.

The event will include an approximately 3- hour walking tour including the Great Falls overlook and the northern portion of the Billy Goat Trail (From the northern entrance near the Stop Gate until approximately TM-1 on the map below). The official trip will finish at TM-1 before the trail becomes more difficult, while any adventurous hikers are free to continue ahead on their own.

Please register by emailing Alan Pitts at pitts.alan@gmail.com

Trip Details:

Location: Great Falls Park, Maryland

Duration: approximately 3 hour-walking tour

Date: June 6th, 2026

Time: 9:00am to 12:00pm-ish

Meeting Point: Great Falls Tavern Visitor Center

Parking options: Parking inside the park is widely available

Safety and Trail information: Please note that the Billy Goat Trail portion of the trip will involve hiking over rugged and rocky terrain. We recommend sturdy footwear and trekking poles if balance is an issue.

Our guided trip will explore the first section of the Billy Goat Trail and turn around at the TM-1 point on the map. For any hikers who are planning to continue onward please see the information and link below from the National Park Service

The hike involves scrambling over angled rocks, boulders and climbing. Visitors in less-than-optimal health, visitors with small children, and visitors not experienced or properly outfitted should consider other trail options. The 1.7-mile hike takes most visitors 2-3 hours to complete. Along the trail are views of Mather Gorge and Potomac River. This trail can close due to fooding from the river. Link: Billy Goat Trail – Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service)

Register by emailing Alan Pitts at pitts.alan@gmail.com

We look forward to seeing you!

Comments Off on GSW Spring Field Trip to Great Falls, June 6th

Posted in Uncategorized

GSW Meeting Wednesday, May 13th at Cosmos Club

Posted on May 6, 2026 | Comments Off on GSW Meeting Wednesday, May 13th at Cosmos Club

Join us to hear from leadership in the Earth Sciences at Federal Agencies

Sarah Ryker, U.S. Geological Survey, Associate Director for Associate Director for the Geology, Energy, and Minerals Mission Area

Megan Carr, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Associate Director of the Strategic Resources Program

The meeting will take place at the Cosmos Club John Wesley Powell Auditorium, 2170 Florida Avenue NW, Washington D.C

Refreshments at 7:30 p.m., formal program at 8:00 p.m.

 If anyone has announcements or informal communications they would like to share with the society, please e-mail Mike Ackerson (ackersonm@si.edu) ahead of time.

Comments Off on GSW Meeting Wednesday, May 13th at Cosmos Club

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged

GSW Meeting Wednesday, April 29th at Cosmos Club

Posted on April 22, 2026 | Comments Off on GSW Meeting Wednesday, April 29th at Cosmos Club

Andrea Goltz, Carnegie Earth and Planets Laboratory – Predicting the Stability of Igneous Amphibole using Machine Learning

Supratik Roy, Johns Hopkins University – Constraining metamorphic rates in ancient orogens: insights from the Paleoproterozoic Lake Superior region (USA)

Kelsey Jenkins, Smithsonian Institution – Sensing in a Strange Land: The Fossil Record’s Story of Sensory Evolution

The meeting will take place at the Cosmos Club

John Wesley Powell Auditorium

2170 Florida Avenue NW, Washington D.C.

Refreshments at 7:30 p.m., formal program at 8:00 p.m.

 If anyone has announcements or informal communications they would like to share with the society, please e-mail Mike Ackerson (AckersonM@si.edu) ahead of time.

Comments Off on GSW Meeting Wednesday, April 29th at Cosmos Club

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged

GSW Meeting Wednesday, March 25th at Carnegie Earth and Planets Laboratory

Posted on March 23, 2026 | Comments Off on GSW Meeting Wednesday, March 25th at Carnegie Earth and Planets Laboratory

Kevin Wong, Carnegie Earth and Planets Laboratory: Continent-breaking volcanoes: magmatic rifting in Ethiopia

Sajjad Akam, Smithsonian: Bursting the Bubble with Rocks: Decoding Marine Methane Cycling Using Seafloor Rocks

Denise Buckner, NASA Goddard: From asteroid Bennu to Mars: abiotic organics and the search for life beyond Earth

Refreshments at 7:30 pm, the formal program will begin at 8:00 pm

Carnegie Institution for Science – Earth and Planets Laboratory
5241 Broad Branch Rd, NW, Washington D.C.

(free parking plentiful)

* Members outside the DMV can attend via Zoom*

Please see the email announcement for the Zoom link, Meeting ID and Passcode

Comments Off on GSW Meeting Wednesday, March 25th at Carnegie Earth and Planets Laboratory

Posted in meetings, Uncategorized

GSW Meeting Wednesday, March 4th at Cosmos Club

Posted on February 27, 2026 | Comments Off on GSW Meeting Wednesday, March 4th at Cosmos Club

Elizabeth Tomaszewski, USGS – Coal Mine Waste as a Resource: How Fundamental Geochemistry Informs Critical Mineral Recovery Potential

Joshua Rosera, USGS – What’s the point? Tracking regional orientations of magmatism through time in the Rocky Mountains

Oded Elazar, Carnegie Earth and Planets Laboratory – Metasomatic Fluids from Subducted Oceanic Crust Recorded by Potassium Isotopes in Sierra Leone Diamonds

The meeting will take place at the Cosmos Club

John Wesley Powell Auditorium

2170 Florida Avenue NW, Washington D.C.

Refreshments at 7:30 p.m., formal program at 8:00 p.m.

 If anyone has announcements or informal communications they would like to share with the society, please e-mail Mike Ackerson (AckersonM@si.edu) ahead of time.

Upcoming 2026 Spring Meetings: Mar. 25, Apr. 29, May 13

Comments Off on GSW Meeting Wednesday, March 4th at Cosmos Club

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged

GSW Meeting at Cosmos Club, Wed. Feb.11

Posted on January 12, 2026 | Comments Off on GSW Meeting at Cosmos Club, Wed. Feb.11

Kathryn Hobart, USGS – Critical Minerals in Mine Waste: a case study on sulfides from volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits

Ludmila Fonseca Teixeria, Smithsonian – How to find volcanoes that no longer exist?

Katherine Turk, Smithsonian – Behavioral innovation at the dawn of modern oceans

The meeting will take place at the Cosmos Club

John Wesley Powell Auditorium

2170 Florida Avenue NW, Washington D.C.

Refreshments at 7:30 p.m., formal program at 8:00 p.m.

 If anyone has announcements or informal communications they would like to share with the society, please e-mail Mike Ackerson (AckersonM@si.edu) ahead of time.

Upcoming 2026 Spring Meetings: Mar. 04, Mar. 25, Apr. 29, May 13

Comments Off on GSW Meeting at Cosmos Club, Wed. Feb.11

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged

GSW Fall Field Trip! Sat. Dec. 20, 2025

Posted on November 25, 2025 | Comments Off on GSW Fall Field Trip! Sat. Dec. 20, 2025

USGS Geologist Peter Valley will lead a hike along Difficult Run to the Potomac River below Great Falls. Along the way are metagraywackes, migmatites, and even some petroglyphs! The parking area for Difficult Run Stream Valley Park is small and fills up quickly; therefore, we will arrange carpools.

Meet at 8:00 am at the Reston Town Center Metro station, on the south side in the parking area adjacent to the bus stop and roundabout at the Kiss and Ride. Carpools will be arranged from this point to the Difficult Run trailhead. Wear sturdy shoes or boots that may become wet. This trail is very rocky and steep in places, requiring some rock scrambling in sections. Please bring a lunch and water.

Comments Off on GSW Fall Field Trip! Sat. Dec. 20, 2025

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged

December 3rd, GSW Annual meeting at Carnegie Earth and Planets Laboratory

Posted on November 14, 2025 | Comments Off on December 3rd, GSW Annual meeting at Carnegie Earth and Planets Laboratory

The 133rd Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of Washington will take place on December 3rd, 2025 in the auditorium of the Carnegie Earth and Planets Laboratory, 5241 Broad Branch Road NW, Washington D.C.

This will be a HYBRID meeting. Please see the email announcement for the Zoom link.

Dr. VED LEKIĆ will deliver the Presidential Address entitled:

“A Tale of Two Worlds: The Core-Mantle Boundaries of Earth and Mars“

Annual awards will be announced, and election of the 2026 GSW slate of officers and councilors will also take place.

Slate of Officers for 2026:

  • President:  Michael Ackerson* (Smithsonian)
  • 1st VP & President Elect: Michael Walter* (Carnegie EPL)
  • 2nd Vice President: Stephen Mackwell (Univ. of Maryland)
  • Past President: Ved Lekić (Univ. of Maryland)
  • Treasurer: Andy Campbell* (NRC, retired)
  • Meeting Secretary: Karin Lehnigk (NASA)
  • Council Secretary: Beth Doyle* (NOVA Community College)
  • Councilors: 
    • Linda Rowan* (CRS)
    • Ross Salerno* (USGS)
    • David Vanko* (Towsen Univ., retired)
    • Jamie Allan (NSF, retired)
    • Charna Meth
    • Virginia Agostinelli (Montgomery County College)
  • *Officers and councilors carrying over from 2025

Comments Off on December 3rd, GSW Annual meeting at Carnegie Earth and Planets Laboratory

Posted in Uncategorized

Wed. Nov. 12: GSW Meeting at the Carnegie Institution for Science – Earth and Planets Laboratory

Posted on November 7, 2025 | Comments Off on Wed. Nov. 12: GSW Meeting at the Carnegie Institution for Science – Earth and Planets Laboratory

Theme of the event: Extraterrestrial Materials

CONEL ALEXANDER, Carnegie Earth and Planets Laboratory – What Meteorites and Sample Return Missions Have Taught Us about Conditions and Processes in the Early Solar System

MATT CLEMENT, Applied Physics Laboratory / Johns Hopkins University – Long Term Bombardment of the Habitable Zone at Home and Abroad

ZOË WILBUR, Smithsonian Institution – Exploring Inner Solar System Volatiles with Bennu Samples

The meeting will be preceded by a poster session starting at 6:00 pm. Talks will start at 8 pm and be 20 minutes each with questions to follow. If you plan on presenting a poster, please let us know via this form: https://forms.gle/H8Cv6Bv7qUrPg8BY8

Carnegie Institution for Science – Earth and Planets Laboratory
5241 Broad Branch Rd, NW, Washington D.C.

(free parking plentiful)

* Members outside the DMV can attend via Zoom*

Please see the email announcement for the Zoom link, Meeting ID and Passcode

Upcoming 2025 Fall Meeting: December 3 – Carnegie EPL, Annual Meeting and Presidential Address

Comments Off on Wed. Nov. 12: GSW Meeting at the Carnegie Institution for Science – Earth and Planets Laboratory

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged

Wed. Oct 29-Annual Bradley Lecture at the Cosmos Club

Posted on October 9, 2025 | Comments Off on Wed. Oct 29-Annual Bradley Lecture at the Cosmos Club

BARBARA ROMANOWICZ

University of California, Berkeley / Collège de France, Paris

From Hotspots to Mantle Plumes: Insights on Deep Mantle
Plumbing and Dynamics from Global Seismic Imaging

Refreshments at 7:30 p.m., formal program at 8:00 p.m.

 If anyone has announcements or informal communications they would like to share with the society, please e-mail Vedran Lekic (ved@umd.edu) ahead of time.

Comments Off on Wed. Oct 29-Annual Bradley Lecture at the Cosmos Club

Posted in Uncategorized