The United States and Russia have long-term Solar System exploration programs. These undertakings have provided us with detailed imaging at a variety of scales of all planets and major satellites except Pluto/Charon. Many more NASA projects are currently underway. Landings on Venus (Russia), Mars (U. S.) and the Moon (Russia and U. S.) greatly enriched the available imagery with rock samples and/or analyses.

            How is this voluminous information to be interpreted? The only way to comprehend most of it is to place it within the context of our understanding of the Earth. That field of endeavor is Planetary Geology. The persons most adept at interpreting features of other planets and satellites would be those who are most adept at interpreting similar features on the Earth.

            I enjoy public speaking and consider it a service to the university and community. Planetary Geology has become a passion and I enjoy sharing that passion. I like meeting people with similar interests and exchanging observations and ideas. Offering public lectures is an excellent way of accomplishing those goals.