Integrating Geology into the Local Community
Robert and Johanna Titus
We are ‘the Catskill Geologists.” After successful careers as academic scientists, we have become popular science writers. We have blended geology into the regional culture of the Catskills and upper Hudson Valley. This started in 1991 when Robert began writing for Kaatskill Life magazine. Later Johanna joined him, and we did four columns per year for 30 years. We published four books as well. These all described the area’s bedrock and Ice Age history, written at a level both readable and, more importantly, interesting to the everyday resident. This led to more than a thousand columns in several of the area’s newspapers, especially The Woodstock Times and today, The Mountain Eagle.
With a growing and widespread popular interest in our region’s geology, came a spillover to work with local civic groups who were looking for lecturers and nature walk leaders. These include the Woodstock and Columbia Land Conservancies, the Mountain Top and Greene County Historical Societies, The Catskill Arboretum and the Roosevelt Presidential Library. Self-guided geology trails were designed for several of those groups.
With sufficient public awareness, a facebook page and a blog site became helpful providing direct communication with readers. There were frequent guest appearances on local radio and television stations. We even hosted our own radio talk show on the local PBS channel WIOX. That focused on the geological history of the Schoharie Creek Valley. Recently we have related the Hudson River School of Art to the local Ice Age history. We argue that the glaciers sculpted the landscapes that inspired the painting.
The theme that we are advocating is that every community has its own local newspapers and magazines. public broadcasting stations, libraries, museums, preserves and other civic groups. All may be open to making a place for well explained geoscience. Our science can be an integral part of our communities and we geologists can enjoy rewarding lives of community engagement.
