Geoscience Seminar Series
The UNLV Geoscience Department Seminar Series is a chance for students and professors alike to hear from distinguished lecturers and industry leaders on modern research initiatives and groundbreaking experiments ranging all disciplines of the geosciences.
Undergraduate students can enroll in GEOL 491: Seminar for 1-credit and can take GEOL 491 up to three times throughout their undergraduate degree. Topics vary by semester.
Before each seminar, the Department holds a Coffee and Tea Time, where undergraduate and graduate students get together with their peers and the department faculty. Coffee and Tea time is held in LFG 105 from 3:30 to 4 pm every Wednesday when seminar is held.
Seminars are held each Wednesday during the ongoing semester, from 4 pm to 5 pm in LFG 102.
Spring 2026 Seminar Calendar:
Below is an updated calendar on the upcoming semester’s seminars.
| Date: | Seminar Title: | Presenter: | Affiliation: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1/21/2026 | First Week of Classes- No Seminar | ||
| 1/28/2026 | Coming Soon | Dr. Roberto Fernández | Penn State |
| 2/4/2026 | Risk Management and Field Safety are a Commitment from Everyone | José Miguel Iturra | Flagstaff Field Institute / NOLS |
| 2/11/2026 | Retrospective of the Earthline Hazardous-Waste Landfill Failure, a Case Study of Legacy Landfills and Dumps and How to Reduce Leachate | Dr. Christopher Stohr | Illinois State Geological Survey – Retired |
| 2/18/2026 | Hydrological changes of Yellow River under extreme human activities and climate changes | Dr. Yangbo Chen | Sun Yat-sen University |
| 2/25/2026 | Nevada National Security Site Rock Valley Direct Comparison UE-27a Drilling Project | Garrett Datlof, Morgan Aittama, and Matthew Dietel | Nevada National Security Site |
| 3/4/2026 | Fluid-rock interaction and hydrothermal REE transport in critical mineral deposits | Dr. Alexander Gysi | New Mexico Tech |
| 3/11/2026 | Mechanisms and monitoring of rapid shallow magma intrusion: insights from the 2011 Puyehue-Cordón Caulle laccolith | Dr. Phillip Ruprecht | University of Nevada, Reno |
| 3/18/2026 | Spring Break- No Seminar | ||
| 3/25/2026 | Revisiting the Yerington Cu district, Nevada: Lessons from high-precision petrochronology | Dr. Maria Paula Castellanos-Mendelez | University of Nevada, Las Vegas |
| 4/1/2026 | Coming Soon | Dr. Ryan Porter | Northern Arizona University |
| 4/8/2026 | The Role of Meteorite Impacts in the Origin and Evolution of Life | Dr. Gordon Osinski (Oz) | Western University (Ontario) |
| 4/15/2026 | Sampling Mars: Insights into the History and Habitability of the Red Planet | Dr. Chris Herd | University of Alberta |
| 4/22/2026 | GeoSymposium Week- No Seminar | ||
| 4/29/2026 | Coming Soon | Dr. Matthew Saltzman | Ohio State University |
| 5/6/2026 | Reading Week- No Seminar |