CARBONDALE – Find an interesting rock and wonder about its history and pedigree? Southern Illinois University Carbondale this weekend will celebrate Geologists Day with an informational clinic at the home of the university’s geology program.
The Rock and Mineral Clinic is set for 1-4 p.m. Sunday at Parkinson Building, Room 101F, on the SIU campus. Daniel Hummer, assistant professor of geology, along with the SIU Geology Club, will host the program. Free parking will be available in the lots No. 2, 10 and 13 near to the eastern campus entrance on South Illinois Avenue, U.S. 51 and adjacent to the Parkinson Building, 1259 Lincoln Drive.
Members of the public can bring in any rock, mineral or geological sample they want to have identified and if interested, can also learn the basic common examination techniques that Hummer and the geology students use. All ages are welcome to this free, family-friendly event.
“One thing I notice every time I talk to the public is that everyone has a rock story,” Hummer said. “Rocks and minerals just seem to be universally admired, and I encourage people to both appreciate them, and learn where they come from and how they can be identified.”
National Geologists Day is celebrated on the first Sunday of April each year. Established in April 1966 by scientists in the former Soviet Union, the day honors and recognizes the work of geologists, geophysicists and geochemists who study the history of the Earth and the composition of rocks, soil, water, minerals and other materials.