A POORLY SORTED BUT WELL-ROUNDED PODCAST: AN ATTEMPT TO BRING THE GEOSCIENCES TO THE PEOPLE

The geosciences have always felt like the outcast member of the sciences. While every public high school student in the USA has probably taken at least one biology, chemistry, and physics course, how many have taken an Earth science course? Most Earth science majors transfer into the program after freshman year, very few start out in this field. Yet, the very existence of our civilization requires a vibrant and healthy cadre of active Earth scientists. After decades of providing continuing educational support to geoscientists, the Pennsylvania Council of Professional Geologists took the approach to start a podcast to reach those outcast scientists and the public and the Poorly Sorted but Well-Rounded Podcast was born. The purpose of this podcast is to make information available to the general public as well as the practicing geologists on topics of interest. To date, these include the geologic history of Pennsylvania state parks, geology of Pennsylvania, geo-heritage, regulatory updates in Pennsylvania and a series entitled “The Earth is a Storyteller.” To date, these podcasts have been accessed from every continent except Antarctica.