A Groovy Geologist - Cate Larsen

Dr. Jesse Reimink: Welcome to Planet Geo, the podcast where we talk about our amazing planet, how it works, and why it matters to you.

 This is Jesse Reimink, bringing you Chris Behe in a much dumber version than what he was a couple days ago or last week. Hi, Chris

Chris Bolhuis: Uh, Hi Jesse. How you doing? Yeah, that is, you know what? That is such a true statement. I had to attend bus driving school. Jessie, I went back, This is my 11th recertification for my bus driver's license. Um, I have to re-certify my bus driver's license, keep that active because of that field course I teach every summer, so every two years I have to do this. And what would you think? I'm asking you this question. What would you do at bus driving school? Jesse, what do you think We do?

Dr. Jesse Reimink: Well, I've heard you, I've heard you complain about this for a couple years, so I have an inkling that it's not driving buses necessarily around the

Chris Bolhuis: you, you'd think, Oh, you drive buses, right? No, that is not what you do. We talk about driving buses and , I walked out of there just a little bit dumber than when I walked in. It's that kind of like, you can literally feel it just leaving you. The brain cells are just, it's like a vacuum.

Dr. Jesse Reimink: Well, Chris, I must say, You don't look any dumber, but you know,

Chris Bolhuis: That's hard.

Dr. Jesse Reimink: That would be hard. So, you know,

Chris Bolhuis: Yes,

Dr. Jesse Reimink: well, we just got done with an excellent interview. Cate Larson was our guest and Kate is who you're gonna hear coming up here pretty quickly. But this was a really fun interview, Chris, . Let me just give a brief introduction to Kate. Kate has a bachelor's Science in geology. She's a geo communicator and an excellent one, and one that operates in, I think, An online space that I don't frequent very much, meaning TikTok and Instagram. She also has a rocks and hops, livestream on Instagram, which is very entertaining. I watched a couple episodes and very informative, and she's really great in utilizing this, let me say, non-traditional educational space of social media, which is awesome, and she makes really cool content and was very fun to talk to her.

Chris Bolhuis: I agree. We ran into her at gsa, the Geological Society of America, the Connects in, uh, Denver, Colorado just a couple weeks ago. And she just, The thing about Kate is she has a presence that you can just feel the first time you meet her. And I love that when, you know, it's just one of those like palpable things that you just. Get ahold of when you meet somebody like this. So we were excited right away at the possibility of interviewing her, and it did not disappoint. It's a very different interview than we've ever done before because this is, like you said, this is a different space that you and I really don't exist in. But that doesn't mean that it's not as important, um, because it's reaching different people and she has a far reach.

Dr. Jesse Reimink: Oh, a, a big reach and it's a very, very important space. you know, it's a very different form of education and communication, but it is education and communication nonetheless. And I think Kate does it exceptionally well and has some really great ideas about, you know, the future of the space and the future of what she's gonna do. So you could find out more about Kate groovy geologist.com. That's groovy geologist. And on Instagram she's at Groovy Geologist and TikTok at Groovy Geologist as well. She is the groovy geologist and um, it was really fun to talk to her. She lots of ideas, very informative, very interesting for me personally. I think, Chris, to get this different insight into. Geoscience communication and to have a discussion about, you know, we have, we've developed, you and I have developed our own path towards how do we argue about episode designs, You know, what are we gonna talk about? How are we gonna make the, the script and edit the thing down? And all that information, which we've kind of settled into routine about, but it's interesting to hear somebody else's perspective who's building. TikTok videos and Instagram posts and doing these live streams, which is a ton of work and, and just interesting to hear her thoughts on how to do that. How to do that well,

Chris Bolhuis: and understanding the time that goes into making these short videos, it's an immense amount of time. And I also asked her about like, how do you get, how do you sleep at night? Because I'd be having ideas all the time and I'd wake up and then like, that's it. I'm, I'm awake, cuz my mind is off and running right now. So it's a, it's just a, it's a different way of looking at things and it's super interesting.

Dr. Jesse Reimink: and before we get to the interview, just remember you can follow us, you can subscribe, You can support us cast@planetgeocast.com. The links are in the show notes. There is also a link in the show notes to our new conversational textbook called Camp Geo. It's built for your phone. It's got the key images to give you. Basically, Chris, the class you and I teach, you teach it to basically AP geology in high school. I teach it to 200 Penn State undergrads every year. It's that course in mobile friendly form on your phone with us leading the way. So click on that link and let us know

Chris Bolhuis: is not just a podcast, though. Cuz this thing als, this audio also has the images that you need to fully understand the content and the images are decoupled from the audio in that you can look at the images and while you're listening to other content,

Dr. Jesse Reimink: and with that, Chris, let's get to Kate Larson, a groovy geologist coming at you.

Chris Bolhuis: Here we go. we got the technology figured out here a little bit, hopefully. Kate Larson, uh, a groovy geologist. Thank you for joining us on Planet Geo and Welcome.

Cate Larsen: I thank you so much for having me. It's

a pleasure.

Chris Bolhuis: a

Dr. Jesse Reimink: we're very excited and we're very excited , to meet you at, gsa, the Geological Side of America meeting, which we met, I don't know, a couple weeks ago only, Uh, and we quickly set up this interview and said, Oh, we gotta, we gotta do this. This will be totally fun. So, I, I think I speak for Chris and I, we're very much looking forward to our discussion, but we. Tend to start out these with a traditional question of, you know, what got you into geoscience in general, because Chris has, has a moment, an aha moment, and I do as well, which was actually sitting in Chris, he's classroom. He was the aha moment for me. And, and do you have a, a singular moment that you realized you

Cate Larsen: Oh yes, absolutely. When I met you

guys, I was really like seeing myself and my, my mentor really. Um, because I was,

you know, I did not

have

an interest in geoscience or earth science in high school. It was not being taught to me very

well.

My teacher was not as cool as Chris

is, and I was not really interested in

Dr. Jesse Reimink: we, he is not that cool. I mean, come on, we gotta

Cate Larsen: Obviously he must be pretty awesome because he ha gave you your aha moment and now you are

guys are still close all these years later, so he must be doing, doing something right. And I can attribute my aha moment to being in a planetary science course in college. Just like, I was taking it as an elective and I was an astronomy major, and I'm like, All right, planetary, geology, whatever. I don't care about geology. I was here for the planets. My professor was incredible. Um, his name Sean Tiva, he's like the coolest dude that I've ever met in this field. And I thank him so much for teaching this in such an interesting way that I was like, You know what? I don't really care about stars and galaxies. I really care about the planets and the rocks on them. and he kind of just said was like, Hey, you should come to the geology club. See if you like it. Maybe sign up

for my class next semester for geology 1 0 1. And it was about halfway through that semester when I was taking planetary geology that I was just like, This is incredible. I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna become a geology major, I'm gonna declare a major, and I'm going to study planetary geology. And that's where I got my started at. I just fell in love with it and, and fell in love with geologic processes and history of did did then off to you how everything looks the way it does. It was just, there's so much more to it. And I, I had no idea. And because it was being taught to me in a way that really clicked, I was just head over heels for it. And

I happen ever since

Chris Bolhuis: That's really cool. So planetary geology drop Because I don't think that

Cate Larsen: kinda.

Chris Bolhuis: you actually went into. Is

Cate Larsen: Uh, well, I mean, that's where my focus lied for many years. And I actually did one of my, um, research projects in undergrad that was on planetary surface processes. You know, I was interested in, marsh and glaciers, so I was very much still into it. And, having gone to GSA and I was talking to potential advisors, looking into potential grad school opportunities, I'm still looking to do planetary, you know, that's really where my interest lies. But, you know, I'd like to learn about specific processes. And then apply them to other planetary bodies. you can study these things that are so far away and understand them by looking at the way that they are here and drawing comparisons and using analogs and models. And that's really where my interests are these days. But, you know, that's you know forward to the future and, um, something I'd like to do and become an expert in specifically. But nowadays, I am very much just a general generalist geologist,

Chris Bolhuis: Hey, don't downplay that. Don't

downplay that at all. That's me. That's me, Jesse. He knows, more than anybody else in the whole world about really tiny.

And, uh, you know, we, we like to rip on those Um,

well, Kate, that's a good transition into my, my next question because in getting ready , to talk to you, it was so clear that you have this like, deep passion to bring geosciences to the masses. Where does that come from? And w Where and why, why is this so important to you?

Cate Larsen: I've always wanted to teach my whole life. Had wanted to teach, and I would play, pretend I would invite my neighbor over and play class. And I'm like, All right, I'm the teacher, you're the student. I would set up my toy

box as his desk, and I had

taped a bunch of pieces of, uh, printer paper together on my wall as like my, my chalkboard, and I would just teach him random stuff. At the time I was, you know, really into astronomy. So I was looking at one of my astronomy books, like my little, like Kids space books, and I'm like teaching 'em all the stuff from that book, but explaining it a little bit different, and that's where my skill is. I, I, you know, I think that I'm pretty good at explaining things in different ways and simplifying things, but also, Creating more interest about it and, and making it more interesting than it was when I had to teach it to myself or someone taught it to me. So just, , I really love teaching and I, thought for years that I would be a teacher. I, I thought I was gonna be a high school astronomy teacher, but then I realized I don't like teenagers all that much. So I'm like, All right, one day

I'm gonna be a professor. I've decided, you know, I want, I, I, I wanna,

Chris Bolhuis: Okay. So you, you're going all the way. You're gonna get your PhD eventually and, so you're gonna become a, like Jesse and Kate, we got, I think we gotta talk about this cuz I'm like, I'm not sure that like

Dr. Jesse Reimink: Aim higher. Aim

Chris Bolhuis: Yeah.

Dr. Jesse Reimink: Jesse. I think that, yeah, there's a lot to, to improve upon. Um, so that, that's interesting. So, cuz cuz I think you're, Well okay, I'm projecting now, Kate, but you come at this education at the moment, you're implementing and utilizing a lot of what I would say are non-traditional or sort of less formal education pathways. And so can you give us some insight into how you view the interaction of those, especially coming from somebody like yourself who, who uses social media and a lot of different platforms to communicate Very interesting and very new ways of communicating. and looking forward to the, maybe the more formal.

Cate Larsen: It's absolutely, uh, different. And having been in classes in college, , and seeing how different lecturers, teach their subject, it really varies. And you can be taught by someone who is the biggest genius in the world, but has a hard time teaching it. You know, they can relay the information, but it's not really clicking and connecting. And part of that I think, is attributed to. The setting, the setup of it. You know, you're in a classroom, it's, you kind of, you know, you're looking at a PowerPoint, You just running through these slides and pictures and walls and blocks of text, and it, definitely already sets you up for this. I don't really wanna pay attention to this. It's just going in one year out the other. So doing things differently and, teaching the way that I do on social media, especially with my live lessons, I'm not using a PowerPoint. You know, sometimes I'm, I'm drawing a picture or I'm using my hands, or I'm giving a, a demonstration with, cup of water or play dough or something. And it, it's very, Um, fast paced. I'm not really giving people time to take notes. You know how when you're in a lecture and there's always like pauses, you gotta let the students take notes, Whatever, whatever. I'm just running through it. I'm just going as fast as I can. And if that was in a classroom setting, you wouldn't be able to learn a single thing cuz you're expected. There's the expectation that you have to pay attention and learn and remember this information because you're gonna be tested on it.

Dr. Jesse Reimink: Yeah, and you can't hit rewind, you know,

Cate Larsen: the way that I teach. There is no expectation of needing to relay this back to me and get it correct. So you're just, you're just listening. You're just listening and learning and picking up on whatever whatever I'm saying. Every like 20 seconds. If something cool catches you, you're like, Oh, well there you go. I can can catch on to that. I'm gonna re remember that.

Chris Bolhuis: Yeah. Hey, Kate, can you take a second and tell our listeners about this platform with your live, uh,

Cate Larsen: Sure. Yeah. So I'm the hope. I'm the host of a, of a weekly livestream called Rocks and Hops, in which I teach a pre-prepared geology lesson while drinking a craft beer. And I would stream this live on TikTok for the first, uh, year and a half of doing it. And then I kind of switched over to Instagram because I can access a wider audience there. And I have better, better reach there too. So, I just, Do this live lesson. People are commenting in the chat. They're asking me questions. It's very interactive. , I've recently implemented a little, feature to it where I ask questions at the end. So you kind of are being quizzed, but you're gonna get a prize. You're gonna win a rocks and hop sticker, and then I mail it to you and, you know, you answer the question correctly, and it's based on the lesson. So if you had been listening the whole time, you're like, Oh, I remember that. She said, she, she said that at the beginning. I'm gonna win a sticker and put it on my water bottle. And I get pictures all the time. People who wanna sticker and then slapped it on something and they're like, I answered a question correctly. This is the best day. And it's awesome to see people really engaging with it and paying attention. And, um, it's, it's really. Great way to learn a specific topic is just to hear someone talk about it. And because there's no, you know, PowerPoint slide, you don't have to be looking at it. You can just listen to me talk. And many people, , from what I've heard, can just leave the live stream going in the background and they go and do something else. You know, my friend washes the dishes, does laundry while she's listening to, and she's like, This is great. Yeah. I just kinda just listening, listening go.

Chris Bolhuis: Yeah. That's cool. Very cool. Very cool. Do you just pick topics that, or do you have a structure to it?

Cate Larsen: So I, what I try to do is have a month on like a lesson series. So one month I'll do an entire lesson on natural disasters and I'll have different weeks that are on earthquakes, volcanoes, flooding. then another month I had lessons. Hydrogeology. So I'll have, water management, groundwater, river land forms and all that. So it really, I try to keep a theme month to month, but it is hard in a sense to kind of continue coming up with lessons because I am a general geologist. have a, Have a, a broad expertise, generalized in a lot of things, but I don't know a whole lot about specific things that people are often asking me about. So, um, what I'm starting to do is have guests come on. And last week I had a, exploration geologist to come on, and that's a topic that people ask me about, but I know zero things about it. You know, everything else I've learned the basics of and taken a class on so I can really talk about it. But this was something that I, I could not. Teach, and I could not teach it to myself and then feel confident in relaying that and explaining it to an audience. So I had someone come on who's an expert in that and, you know, had less of like a lesson structure and more of just like a, a conversation where people could ask questions during, and it went pretty well. I like it. Um, but I'd like to continue doing lessons. I just have to keep coming up with things to talk about that I haven't talked about already.

You know, there's, there's so many things. There's so many things, but like, I'm not an expert in all of those things, you know, And I don't wanna teach the wrong, the wrong stuff.

Chris Bolhuis: Right.

Dr. Jesse Reimink: can I just ask, am I live still with my video on? Am I okay right now?

Chris Bolhuis: better. Yeah. What'd you do?

Dr. Jesse Reimink: shut up, Chris.

I just turned everything else off, so. Oh, I thought you were

Chris Bolhuis: Okay. No, I actually wasn't, but like,

Dr. Jesse Reimink: Shocker. You passed up a good opportunity for a joke there,

Chris Bolhuis: I I know, but now I'm like really conflicted. She's talking about rocks and hops and I just had the worst flipping day of the year, and I'm not, I don't have a beer in my hand and I'm, I'm not really that happy about that. So, anyway, yeah. So Kate, I wanna switch gears. I have a question, because this is punchy topic for me because I've been around a long time and this is something, you know, that, that

I always feel like I fight .That's true. I fight though, you know, coming from Michigan. Most of our high schools don't have, , geoscience, in the, the nine 12, and you come in from New York, there's a pretty well established geoscience program for high schools,

Cate Larsen: Oh yeah. Yeah. You have to take it. You have to take it in high school. You have to take your earth science class. And even in middle school, there was like a very general introduction into rocks and minerals. I remember having that lab where we were. Looking at, rocks and minerals in the, in like the little boxes. And I remember learning about cleavage and we are seventh graders, so that was a really fun day for us. Um,

Chris Bolhuis: And that regent's exam that you take in high school is a real exam. That's no joke. You

Cate Larsen: no, I, was really, I I really liked that, you know? Um, I take a lot of pride in the fact that I forgot my calculator for that, that test that day. And so I took the entire exam with no calculator, doing all the math by hand, and I was really, really proud of that.

Chris Bolhuis: Well, you should be, but New York is not the rule. It's so the exception. Um, high schools struggle to get geoscience in there. we've always, Jesse and I talk about this a lot, We struggle with the, the notion, at least this is my opinion. And I think Jesse, you too, that geoscience has always been viewed as like this kind of substandard science field. We take a backseat to biology, to chemistry, to physics all the time. What are your thoughts on that?

Cate Larsen: It's something that I really have come to learn while doing social media communication. I mean, you look at how many science communicators there are for things like astronomy, there is no shortage of space. People on Instagram or TikTok or YouTube, everyone loves space. Everyone wants to know about it. There's biology pages, there's chemistry pages, there's physics pages. I mean, where were all the geology pages? There was not a whole lot when I first started doing this, except for on YouTube where, uh, you know, that's really the best place for science communication, and it has been for a decade. , there's lots of pages on YouTube and there was not a whole lot of it, , on other social media platforms. And coming to do the work that I do now where I have kind of, brought a lot of that in, I finding that there are more people who were doing this. They were people who were doing it before me, but they didn't really have a big audience. Before a few years, a few years ago, and everyone sort of started to grow together because people are finding out that this is a topic of study and then they find my videos, which will go viral, and then they'll get suggested more geology videos from these other creators who are like, Oh my God, people are finally interested in this. This is great, but it has been taken a backseat. You're absolutely right. Geoscience is not something that people really know about, and it's greatly attributed to the fact that it's not always taught in high schools and people have no idea that it exists. But when they find it on social media, they're like, What? This is, I had no idea that this was even a thing

Dr. Jesse Reimink: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think that's also hopefully changing because all the geoscience problems that are in the news every single day, whether it's critical minerals and how, where are we gonna find lithium for the batteries, for all the green energy transition or climate change, you know, with all that. I think it's much more in people's, in their frontal lobes, especially, I think a little bit more, you know, your generation. It was still not super prevalent when I was going through high school, but I noticed the students who are in undergrad right now that students I teach are more aware of, of geoscience. In their everyday lives than certainly I was at that stage of life. Um, and, and Chris, I'm sure you probably have the same opinion . So it's becoming more, prevalent and it's very exciting to have people like you producing really cool content that draws people in, in the way you're, you're kind of describing. So what is, I'm sure you come across a lot of different misconceptions, a lot of different ideas and, and a lot of people of different, uh, experience levels. What do you think is one thing everybody should know about geology or geoscience?

Cate Larsen: Oh, well, in a, a lot of what you see that's geoscience, geoscience, you know, with, in quotation marks related to content on social media is, you know, people coming up with conspiracy theories. You know, why do these rocks look like faces? Um, what happened here? Uh, were there giant trees, Petrified trees is, uh, there's a lot of conspiracy because social media allows for people to spread ideas and information. Not all that information is good, or, or correct, um, scientifically sound. So, a lot of misconceptions I come, come across are that scientists aren't to be trusted. geoscientists are lying. This isn't really, you know, a rock. It's, uh, petrified remains of a giant. That's like my least favorite one. I mean, someone

pulling,

Chris Bolhuis: about Devil's Tower there?

Cate Larsen: Yeah. Devil's

Tower is a, is a, is a fun one too. It's not a giant tree. It's just, it's just not, People

will get very vague information about Earth's history and then make conclusions. And you know, I'm always glad that people are asking questions and they're looking at, you know, earth's history and asking questions about it. But coming to conclusions, uh, without really addressing what scientists are saying is, is very frustrating because, uh, on one hand, you know, I'm glad that they're wondering why does this rock look like this? But, , jumping to it's a giant face rather than, Hmm. Well, erosion can do this. Wind erosion can make this look like this. Cause there's a much cooler explanation. They're just ignoring because they wanna jump to this conclusion.

Chris Bolhuis: Do you get pushback, uh, in the way of questions like on TikTok or Instagram from some of your posts?

Cate Larsen: Absolutely. I mean, I make videos addressing these things. You know, a video blows up where someone is saying just pure geologic nonsense. And I get pushback like, Oh, who are you to say, to say that? Who are you? You know, geologists are just liars. They're, you're, you're lying. You're getting paid to say this, that they're getting paid to, uh, to tell us that we're wrong. Like, I wish I was getting paid for anything, you know,

Chris Bolhuis: Yeah.

So how do you, do you push, do you respond to that or do you just let it ride or

Cate Larsen: uh, I used to having done this for over two years, you know, this being my field of work, I used to be very harsh and very mean short-tempered would, I would not take any, bullshit. Um, but I have come to learn sometimes it's just better to let it go, give him a block and walk away. I don't like seeing arguments in my comments, even if I don't initially respond to someone's. Outlandish claim. A lot of my followers will respond and then get into arguments, and then it just blocks up my, my notifications and I'm just looking at this and I'm like, Bro, you don't have to be going, going this hard. They cannot be swayed. I know that you're trying, but I've learned that these people can't be swayed. It's best to just focus on the people who are willing to learn and the people who refuse to. So that's where my priorities lie these days, is just trying to teach people who want to be taught.

Dr. Jesse Reimink: You can't fix idiots on the internet. I mean, like, it's just as impossible to ask

Chris Bolhuis: It is. It is one of the impossible things to do. That's for

Dr. Jesse Reimink: so I want to, I'm gonna jump around here a little bit, but I'm curious, Kate, when did, you said, you know, you've been doing this, in a significant way for a couple years now. can you take us back to that moment? Was there a moment, was there a particular video, I don't know, that went viral or a post or a series of posts that kind of made you think, Oh wait, this is interesting and, and I can have a go at this. Can you kind of take us back to that moment and what you were thinking about and what went through your head with that?

Cate Larsen: I didn't, so I was, started all this on TikTok and I didn't wanna use TikTok for the longest time. And then I got sent home from college for covid lockdown in my senior year. And I'm just at home, depressed, anxious, downloaded TikTok just to get

some funny into my life. And I'm like, You

know what? And I'm like, You know what? I'm funny. I can be making videos too. So I sort of started making videos and then, I had this idea for a video about being a geology major and how we handle hydrochloric acid versus how chemistry students handle hydrochloric acid and they use such, such care. And then geologists will just pour it onto their

hands and go, Oh yeah.

That's limestone. All right. That's the deal. That one blew up. People really enjoyed that. And they're like, Oh my God, you are a geology major. Can you talk about that? I have this question about this thing. Can you answer that for me? And I'm just like, Wow, this is a good teaching opportunity. And I really, really liked talking about geology. So I, you know, I was just home alone, back at my, at my parents' house and just wondering what can I do while I'm, finishing up school and afterwards, you know, after graduating and we had no graduation. It, it's just, Straight out into the world with no prospects, grad schools put on hold because of Covid. There wasn't any opportunities. So I'm just thinking like, what can I do to make sure that I can still do geology and not just forget about it or lose my passion for it, because I'm just here waiting for things to change. So I decided I was gonna, start doing weekly lessons on TikTok Live, and I called it Drunk Geology because I'm thinking of Drunk History, which is

uh, one of my favorite, one of my

favorite

Dr. Jesse Reimink: Drunk History is just pure genius. I

Cate Larsen: Yeah, there's, there's a hook there. There's a hook. And people, I always admire, like how really interested in these, in these stories that these people were like, I wonder, they already know this stuff. Like, did this person really enjoy the history of, Paul Revere? You know, and really wanna tell that story and just waste for the opportunity to tell it. And I'm like, I have so many things about geology I want, I wanna talk about, and if I'm, you know, drinking a beer, which is something that I normally do anyway, I can just go ham and just talk about geology to tilt till the cows come home. And so I was, and I, my first few lessons were very, very general and I I didn't have a lot of skill in lesson writing yet, so I was pretty much. rewriting and adapting lesson topics from my own geology classes that I took in college. And I'm thinking like, All right, I can be doing better than this. So time goes on and I decide to just start writing my own lessons from scratch and coming up with different topics and ideas. And all the while I'm making geology related videos so that I can, you know, get some, moving on the ground and, uh, having people become interested in my page so that when they see that I'm live, they jump in and they're like, Oh, I'm gonna learn about geology today. But, you know, making these funny videos about geology gets people on the hook and then they see that I'm live and they come and they learn something. And that's been, my, uh, structure of how I, how I'm

going about this. You know, Every once in a while I make like an educational one, but I like making, I like making the funny ones.

Dr. Jesse Reimink: Yeah, those are good. I mean, I remember the Hhl one. I went in doing the research before our interview here. Um, I'd seen your profile on all your stuff, uh, a bit before we met at gsa, but I must admit, I, I'm not on TikTok. It's a little bit the generation under me, the TikTok theme. Uh, but, um, I, I saw the HCL one that was very funny. and, you know, geologists, were splashed around hcl and then licking the haylight after we've put acid, you know, the stupid stuff like this. That was very funny. But when you're talking about constructing, Like designing the, the videos and the courses yourself? I'm very interested in this because Chris and I , it took us probably Chris way in here, an embarrassingly long time to figure out that talking about stuff in this podcast forum is quite a bit different than the lectures we would normally give. And that's been a learning exercise for us. And especially when we were putting together this camp Geo audio textbook or conversational textbook thing, that was a kind of a steep learning curve for us to, to figure out that this is, oh, this is a different forum and we have to do things quite a bit differently. So how do you go about doing that, converting your formal knowledge into tick, which I can't even imagine constructing something that, that resonates and is educational for that. That

Cate Larsen: I just write a lot of jokes. I'm just extremely casual about it and very joking. And some of my jokes are prepared, like I know that I wanna make them and I write them in my lesson plan. And then some of the jokes just happen. And a lot of them are kind of adults and they're funny and people, they know. But this isn't a lecture, it's very casual. I'm drinking a beer, I'm cursing like a sailor, I'm showing you diagrams of earthquake tracking and it looks like boobs. And everyone's like, This is great. You know, just making things very casual and not. formal, but they are structured. They're absolutely structured, and I still struggle with it. I often don't know how to structure a lesson to put the information. I know, I know all the information, but finding out what order to put it in, I'm still learning. And it's something that I've had to learn as I go along. But in the beginning, , there was never a, learning curve where I, I, I had to kind of figure out how to teach in a non-formal way. That's just how I am. I was a TA in college for, like six or seven, intro level geology classes. So I have always really liked explaining things, you know, the same stuff that, that the professor is teaching. If the student has a question about it, I just step in and explain it in a completely different way. And I'm a little, looser about it because I don't have to be formal. I'm not the professor, you know, I can just explain it however I want. But, you know, I just talk and let my personality out. That's really what it is. It's my passion and personality that differentiates me from a typical lecturer, you know?

Dr. Jesse Reimink: Yeah, that's a good point about TAing. I think you hit it right on the head that when you're a ta I was a TA for all through grad school and an undergrad too. And, uh, you can be, you have the freedom to be a little bit more, a little bit less formal and a little bit funnier and a little bit more off the cuff than, you know. I, I can't do that in front of 220

Cate Larsen: No, and, students appreciate it. They really do. They see the TAs as, like, they see the TAs as like, uh, if I'm embarrassed to ask this question to the professor, I can ask it to you because not the professor and you are the same age as me, and I feel comfortable. And that's what I always wanted this to be like, You know, the way that I. This stuff to the public. A lot of the people are my age or younger, and so they don't feel so intimidated learning from me versus learning from someone who is in their fifties, six sixties, who is just an old guy, you know? They don't feel

Chris Bolhuis: got called Old Jesse. Jesse. I just got called.

Dr. Jesse Reimink: Chris.

Chris Bolhuis: Just

Dr. Jesse Reimink: I think she was

Chris Bolhuis: Thanks Kate. I.

Dr. Jesse Reimink: but

Chris Bolhuis: you, Kate. Thanks,

Dr. Jesse Reimink: I must say, I'm gonna give you a compliment here though, Chris, to back to follow that up because that was something you do very well in the classroom. I'm sure you still do it really well, is giving students that like personal access to you as a human being. That's I think what, what sort of drives the educational connection, at least it did for me when I was in high school and I'm, I know the current high school students you have probably feel the same way. So it's such a powerful thing for education. I think

Chris Bolhuis: Yeah.

Dr. Jesse Reimink: access to the person themselves.

Chris Bolhuis: Kate, how, how are you gonna, how are you gonna keep this Okay. You know, how are you gonna keep you when you're in Jesse's role as a a college professor, how are you gonna like, cuz you have some strong ideas about the way education should be. Um, and I think that that's something that you're gonna have to come to grips with, right?

Cate Larsen: Yeah. I mean, what I do now, everyone who watches my lessons is there because they want to be there and they're choosing to be there and they can walk out whenever they want, whenever their attention slips, they can just leave. But I do fear, you know, I am close with a lot of professors, you know, people in my family are college geology professors, and I, I ask my cousin and she's also a woman, and I'm like, How do you teach these classes and feel good about it? Like you love teaching this. But when you're talking to a class at like a community college and all those people are there because they just need the science credit. It's rocks for jocks. It's rocks for the automotive. Program rocks for the nursing program. People there don't really care about the science, but they're just there because they think they have to be, and it's gonna be an easy ride. I've always feared how I'm going to keep this up and how I can adapt the way that I teach to a certain kind of audience who all is choosing to be there versus an audience who really doesn't wanna be there and probably will forget this information the second they walk out of the classroom. And I, I honestly, I don't know how I'm gonna do that. And it's something that I'd like to get better at, that I'd like to learn how to do. And I've been told. by my cousin who was, I, I actually, I taught a guest lecture for one of her classes and I just saw how bored everybody was. And I remember her telling me when she started teaching, she just, like, I lost my passion for it. You know, that drains you. The fact that there are so many faces in that room who just don't care. It drains you. And I, I really do hope that that doesn't happen to me, and that I can really capture an audience and really make a difference and make students really like to learn this. Just the same way that I took that geology class at community college, and that completely captured me, and I was captivated in every other class I took with that professor because he just taught it so well and he was so enthusiastic despite the rest of the class, besides the front row, not giving 2 damns, you know?

Chris Bolhuis: Yep, yep, you know, in watching your videos on TikTok and on, you know, the stuff you put on Instagram, your passion is one of the things that draws people to you. You know, that's one of, there are a lot of intangibles with this whole thing, but that is certainly one of them. And if you, you know, if you ever lose that as an educator, then , you're not gonna be effective. I, I think that's the number one thing, is that that passion, that great educators exude is just, uh, you can't put a tag on that. It's, So, Kate, I have a question for you, hoping that maybe we can talk a little geology. What is the one thing. That you think everybody should know about earth sciences, geoscience, hard rock geology, Like what is that thing that you think should know?

Cate Larsen: If it's not grown, it's mind. Um, someone told me that recently, and it has stuck with me. And that is the easiest way to explain how important geology and geoscience are. You have to understand the world and the earth and its history and its contents and the way that it works and its processes because we get so many of our materials that we use every day from the earth. And additionally, you need to understand how it works in order to live on it. You know, not just the things that we take from it, but the ways that we interact with it as it is. You know, we build structures, we build cities and, and on top of the earth. You know, you have to know what's underneath that. You have to know how it behaves, how it's going to behave despite us being there. building a neighborhood on a flood plane isn't gonna stop the floods from happening, And having geologists in every single part of society is, is so crucial. And, um, You know, just, I guess that's not, that's, that's, not the answer you're probably looking for. I mean,

Chris Bolhuis: I think it's a great answer actually. Like I was, I I ab I think it's a great answer. Jessie, your turn. do you think?

Dr. Jesse Reimink: I would second that. I mean, I, the level of integration between geoscience and our society and our economy is astonishing and goes unrecognized all the time. So I just say amen. And, uh, I second the motion. Kate . Chris,

Chris Bolhuis: Okay. yeah, I think the social concerns that go along with the geosciences, whether it's like, you know, climate, water resources or natural disasters, you know, there's no other science that's in the media as much as geoscience. And that's why I struggle with, wait a minute, why, why is this not in every high school? Why is this not emphasized everywhere all the time? You know, there is no planet B, we just got this one. And, and the more we know about it, the more equipped we are to take care of this place. And so I think, for me, it's the social concern of our science. So anything touches that is what everybody should know.

Cate Larsen: Absolutely. And just jump off of that. I mean, the way the society views geologists, is very negative. It's reviewed as a joke, , because of the way that we're portrayed in media. It's sad that there isn't really good representation of what we do, and there isn't a good education of what we do. Not just having earth science in high schools, but teaching what geologists actually do. That's not something that I was ever taught in high school. I didn't even know what a geologist was until I was in college, and that's the case for. Many, many geologists. Like we didn't know it was an option as a career. We didn't know why geologists were important. You know, we learned the basics of geology in high school here or there, but we never really knew who was learning these things, who was discovering these things, who was, you know, governing our interaction with these things. And I encounter this comment so much that I've actually blacklisted it so no one can comment this. Even if they do, it doesn't show up on my posts or anything. It's just, it's just poof, it's gone. People saying that geology isn't a real science and that is such a infuriating statements because there's no actual basis for it. Besides, it was in a TV show about scientists that was not written by scientists.

Chris Bolhuis: that you talking about

Cate Larsen: Theory.

Chris Bolhuis: or the big bank there? Okay. Yep. Yeah, for sure. They loved to rip on geology,

Cate Larsen: There's no reason for it. There really is no reason for it. Geology is probably the most real science that there is. It's real, it's dirty. It's in the field, it's hands on. You know, you look at chemistry and chemistry is very calculated and precise, and you know what's gonna happen. You can experiment with it. Geology, you have to combine chemistry with the real world, the real chemicals and materials in our world. You have to understand them, and they're not always the same everywhere that you go , and understanding the physics of things, God, you can calculate the physics of a ball rolling down a ramp, but it is extremely hard to calculate the physics of a tectonic plate, subducting and melting. And it, it, there's just so much complexity to it that people are completely oblivious to. It is the most real physical science, hands down.

Dr. Jesse Reimink: Yeah, I completely agree with that. And it's, it's freaking hard. I mean, geology, when you're doing it, it's effing hard. And, uh, in the same way that biology or astrophysics or any of these are hard sciences and hard things to do, it takes smart, motivated, dynamic people to, to do them. And I think, I just wanna make a comment and then a question, Kate, you know, you touched on the representation. Part , of geoscientists and I experienced this growing up in Michigan, is, you know, Oh, I'm getting a geology degree. And people are like, Oh, what the f are you gonna do all day? Just look at rocks. And, you know, you kind of say, , Yes, I am. That's what I do. But, but not really, you know, Vast majority of people don't, but the other part of representation is, you know, the look of the people. And I think this is why it's really great , and why we were in part very excited to have you on, is it takes, you know, young, dynamic female, uh, you know, that is showing that geologists and really great geologists are not people who look like Chris and I all the time, you know, geology's a historically, we, we have a lot of work to do in our field. Definitely. But you know, having different voices is a extremely important part of that, uh, to sort of change that, that dynamic. So if we could transition just briefly, I would like to get a sense Okay. For what it takes to make. To do what you do. I guess, like we kind of touched on creating a, um, the narrative and, and sort of making jokes involved in your stuff. How do you go about building like a post? I mean, how, or a video, a TikTok video or whichever one you want to talk about. Like how do you get from idea to final product and then what does success look like on the end of that? Like what are you looking for? What's the goal from an engagement perspective or,

Cate Larsen: It's a fantastic question. Yeah. I mean, you have to. To understand what's going to be well received from a specific audience, you have to be part of that audience yourself. I spend quite a bit of time scrolling on TikTok and Instagram to seek out, , not just entertainment for myself, but to seek out what other people are seeing as entertainment. I find trending audio, things that are people are currently interested in. And I kind of put a geology twist on it, I find, audios like background audios and trends, and I, I adjust it to be about geology, whether it is showing a, a. piece of information, regarding geology, where I'm talking about minerals, , coexisting in magma, or I'm talking about something that geologists do. Geologists and other geology people can relate to, but also show to a general audience and they're like, Oh, that's, geologists do do this. That's kind of neat. I'm gonna go learn more about this. So I guess a successful post really is something that people are going to be interested in because they have been shown to be interested in related content. So, you know, me getting a feel for the market and finding what people are looking for these days, I just, have a goal for it, whether it's going to be an educational post or it's going to be a funny post, or it's going to be a post that is just for a general audience or very, very niche and enjoyable for other geologists and. What goes into that is I have to, you know, it's my face. I have to, get up, make myself look presentable. I have to, , adjust my lighting. I have to clean my room, I have to stage everything. I have to gather pictures. If I'm gonna be doing like a green screen background and need pictures, I need diagrams, I need, props. Sometimes costumes. I, I dress up. If I'm making multiple videos in a day, I'm changing a app at four or five times. And it is a lot of work. And it's, that is the reality of what content creators do. And it's a lot more work than it looks. But also planning out posts, making sure that all the information is, correct, getting, uh, dates for everything. sometimes I even include sources, but it, it's a lot of work that goes into it. And I can definitely say for sure that the educational ones where I'm like, Explaining, like, you know, I'm talking to the camera and I'm explaining something that takes like maybe four hours to make. If it's like a minute, anywhere between a minute to three minutes long, it can take me at least four hours to write it, to gather the information, to find background music that fits it, that is the right length and the right vibe. Write the captions, edit the clips, and adjust the lengths of them. And I have to do this in like three different apps. I go into Canva, I make diagrams in Canva. , I have to edit it and adjust the length for, to fit onto Instagram. So there's so much work that goes into making a single video. And people wonder why I don't always make educational videos. Sometimes I make the short, anywhere between five to 22nd funny videos. It's because those, it's something and it takes me a lot less time, but it's something just to tide

Dr. Jesse Reimink: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Totally. I mean, I, I get that too. I think Chris, Chris, you and I went into this, uh, podcast thing, probably. A bit ignorant of how much work it actually would take and how much work goes into the background of making good, you know, actually something you're proud of at the end of it. You touched on the, the goals being kind of different if it's an educational thing and if it's a, kind of a more jokey entertainment value one, you know, I could envision a couple scenarios where you're like just tracking how many people viewed it, uh, versus how many comments you get versus like, you know, the new people brought into your, audience, I guess would be the word. how do you balance those? I mean, Chris and I've had this conversation a lot about what do we treat as success? Is it just like straight downloads or is it something more, and we've kind of leaned on the, the, something more, a little bit more nuanced view of success for us, at least personally. yeah. Where do you fall on this and how do you, how do you balance that? It's, it's kind of,

Cate Larsen: It is really hard, um, mostly because the work that I do, this, social media thing and, even with , my live lessons, Rocks and hops, this is a public service that I'm not getting paid for. No one has hired me to do this, so there's two goals I have to accomplish each month and that is make educational content that is, you know, teaching something flat out, teaching something, make. Cute, trendy, videos just to kind of put something out there. And also to have a couple of videos that go really, really viral so I can buy groceries and pay my rent. Because if I have a viral video, I get paid for it from Instagram and TikTok and it is very, very little unless it really blows up. And it's the silliest ones that blow up and, sometimes they're not even all geology related, But hey, it's, it's something that I can profit on and it's not my whole thing, you know, I'm still focusing on making geology videos.

Dr. Jesse Reimink: Yeah, and it also brings other people into your fold who can then, you know, people are like, Oh, Kate, Kate Larson's really interesting. I'm gonna watch other videos of her that are educational. So there is value. I mean, I don't downplay the value in something viral that brings people in. that's,

Cate Larsen: absolutely. And I can, I can track that. I'm able to track that and I can view, you know, hey, this video of me dressed as, Ellie Satler from Jurassic Park blew up and got 12 million views and I got a bunch of new followers from it. I got a bunch of new followers from it, but then I watched a lot of them drop off in the coming weeks because they're seeing like, Oh, I'm not getting more content like this. And they're like, I'm not really into it. I don't really care about the rocks. This was just a pretty girl in a costume. That's it. so it is something, it is like a weird dynamic there. and that kind of like leads me into this thing where like, I'm a woman and I'm young and you know, I guess conventionally attractive people wanna look at me and they're not always listening to what I'm saying, but if they're there, they're still kind of listening. You know, it's it's a weird dynamic. Yeah, you can. You can view like how many, like for the percentage of men who follow me and what their ages are, and I'm like, I know that the hundreds of thousands of men in their fifties are not watching me for geology, but that's fine. I guess

Chris Bolhuis: Okay, so I'm just gonna, I have to Jesse, be quiet. I have to put a disclaimer out there right now. So I do follow you, Kate, but

Cate Larsen: Oh,

Chris Bolhuis: I was getting ready for this. So

Cate Larsen: I know. No, no, I get it.

Dr. Jesse Reimink: Chris is one of the statistics

Chris Bolhuis: So, um, Kate, I I have two questions, so Jesse, bear with me on this. Okay. Um, one is, you're talking about this process of putting these videos and things together, and I wonder how you even sleep because I'd be waking up all the time in the middle of the night with an idea, you know, And then once, once that idea pops in my head, I'm done. Like, I can't do

Cate Larsen: Yep. Yeah, that's totally how it is. So.

Dr. Jesse Reimink: Test

Chris Bolhuis: Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So my other question is, can, and I don't mean to be too personal, but how does this work with like a video going viral, um, and then you get paid, you said, unless something really blows up. What are we talking about with, first of all, what does it mean to really blow up? Are we talking in the millions here? And then can you just like, if you could just ballpark it, because I'm just really interested in this, how this structure works.

Cate Larsen: Yeah, I mean, I,

Dr. Jesse Reimink: there if you don't want to

Cate Larsen: no, it's, I wanna be transparent about it in the work that this involves, because there's not a lot of people who talk about it, you know, influencers don't talk about this, , because they don't really have to, they don't really care to. But I'm being transparent about what this kind of science communication entails and the fact that I'm self-employed and I'm not hired by somebody to do this, that making the content is my income for the most part. , So on average, my videos will have anywhere between 10,000 to, I guess, depending on what platform it is. TikTok and Instagram are absolutely different in, , my engagement rates and how many people see my videos. So, um, my videos in general, I guess I can have anywhere between like 10,000 to 70,000 views on them, and those are fine. I make pennies for that. On TikTok, I might make like, you know, I don't know, it might make a couple of dollars on Instagram for it, but I have a video that has more than like 150,000 views. On TikTok, I might get like five bucks. On Instagram, I might make like 20 or 50, but having a video that got well over. 10 million views on TikTok made so, so little, and it was really disappointing. I had a video series on alternative engagement ring stones, and those were very, Yeah, I have three of them. They were very, very well received and they went viral and I made, um, around $700 on TikTok from them, just like the, just the bunch of them. But on Instagram, I had one video of me dressed up as Laura d got 12 million views, and I made over $1,500 just from that video alone. That's what Instagram paid me for it. So, you know, it, there is absolutely a difference between the platforms and the kind of, The kind of things that you can earn from them. And it's a struggle and it's something that is, you know, I have a group chat with, um, a bunch of other geology creators on TikTok and Instagram. We're all in like, a group chat and we're always talking about TikTok and how much we hate it because it gave us all our start. But it does not treat us very well. videos are getting taken down. Um, we don't get a lot of views on them. \ we, We don't get paid. Even if our videos go the littlest bit viral to very viral, we're not getting paid what we should for the amount of viewership that we bring to the platform. And it's disappointing and it's something that a lot of content creators are going on about. you know, this is, this is our livelihood. This is what we love to do. And specifically me, this is my full time job compared to some of these other people that are doing other kinds of work. But we are still relying on this for , our income. But like, it's our livelihood. We're doing this because we love it. It's a public service, but we would really, really love to get paid for it. You know, , instead of having to do like brand deals, like I have to do a couple of brand deals a month, um, like partnerships just so I can, have, a sustainable, income. So I do like brand partnerships or I do sponsored content and I try to make it very, very,\ related. I don't do just random stuff. It has to be applicable to me and to my audience. So that's something that has to go into it as well. It is a lot of work. I had to go out on location a couple days ago to go film a sponsored video, and I still haven't gotten around to editing it because I still need to film another part of it that I have to do in the house. And I'm waiting for the lighting in my house to be better because it's rainy out today. There's so much that has to go into making a video and putting it out there, and it's something that people don't really understand, you know? And that's just me ranting about it. I just rambled for the

Chris Bolhuis: At all. actually I think that's really interesting.

Dr. Jesse Reimink: Yeah, this is totally interesting. And I saw those diamond, uh, or the not diamond, the alternative engagement ring videos and there was a massive amount of views on those. Like was it 20 million or, or something like that on one of them, somewhere in this millions ballpark that blew me away. Um, so can, can we use this as like an opportunity? Cuz I'm sure there's some listeners that we have that maybe haven't come across you before. where could we point them to? Where do you want them pointed to? Like, where can they find out more from you that's most efficient and sort of, you know, maybe it sounds like tick's not the one you wanna point them to necessarily,

Cate Larsen: mean is fine. It's fine. I mean, I have a website, it's groovy geologist.com, and on that website at the top of the page I have my social links. I also have like a link homepage that I'm looking to get my own like domain for. But all my social media is linked on my website and in addition to that, there's lots of information about me and my work, you know, the kind of work I do outside of social media, which is something that if you guys wanted to talk about that I'd be glad to talk about it.

Dr. Jesse Reimink: Yeah, sure. Let's go there.

Chris Bolhuis: Abso absolutely. Yeah.

Cate Larsen: Yeah. So I, um, because of my popularity on social media, I've, you know, gotten a lot of attention. People and organizations who want to bring me to do things with them and partner with them. Um, so I've given talks for geology departments, colleges, geology clubs, you know, , over Zoom. But I also am able to go to places in person. I flew out to California earlier this year and gave a TEDx talk at uh, ucr, which is,

Dr. Jesse Reimink: Yeah,

Cate Larsen: And that was very, very cool. Unpaid, but it's okay. Um, now, nowadays I'm getting booked for like, speaking engagements with groups and other colleges, and they're offering to like actually pay it and, give me something for it. And it's awesome. But, you know, that's another way that I can kind of make some, income from it, you know, giving talks at libraries. And I have given a talk at a brewery before where I talked about the geology of beer, and I was like, Well, what makes the beer here good? Let's talk about the soil that the hops were grown in and the groundwater that it was brewed with. So that's also a really fun thing. I, I love to do, I love interacting with an audience, live and in person. It's definitely different, a lot different than the online, you know, just looking at a picture of myself and reading a stream of comments. It's very, very different. But I'm getting the hang of it and I do enjoy doing it.

Dr. Jesse Reimink: So is, uh, is your website a place if people want to, uh,

Cate Larsen: Oh yes. Yeah.

Dr. Jesse Reimink: you about that? Your website is the place to point 'em to?

Cate Larsen: Yeah. You can have my social links more about me and uh, my email should be on there too. If you ever wanted to contact me with questions or if you have cool rock pictures, I'd love to see 'em.

Dr. Jesse Reimink: so on that note, well, I didn't know that you were interested in graduate school, and if you are interested in graduate school, I would, uh, you know, point you to Penn State. We have a decent program here, and if you're interested, I'm happy to

Cate Larsen: things.

Dr. Jesse Reimink: talking about that. Uh, but what's next? What's next for you? I mean, is, are you going to try and do the social media thing for a little while and continue this or grad school more on your radar? Like, I don't know, what are you gonna be doing for the next couple years here? Where's this?

Cate Larsen: Man, I wish I knew. I, uh, went to GSA with the, with, uh, the goal of meeting potential advisors and getting some leads for grad school because applications are starting in the next couple of months and I really need to be making connections with potential advisors now. but what wound up happening at GSA was a lot more of like work opportunities and potential partnerships and projects. And so it is very confusing and conflicting, and I've talked about this with my fellow geology communicators, and we're all. Where do we see ourselves going with this? I mean, a lot of us have day jobs as, as well. Some of us are professors, researchers or, or they're in grad school and there's me, and I'm just like, I don't really know what I'm doing right now. Uh, I'd like to continue doing this on social media for as long as, one I have success with it. And two, i, I emotionally want to do it because it is really draining. And there have been slumps where I've just been like, Why am I still doing this? I'm draining myself. Why do I even want to do this? And what do I even want to do with my life? And it, it has been really kind of, kind of scary to think really deeply into it. But I'm doing this for as long as I, as I will let myself and the audience will let me, and, looking forward to new projects and things that I'm doing that hopefully will lead into. If I do continue doing geology communication, I'd love to have a boss so I don't have to be my own boss anymore. Cause I really hate that I do not hold myself well to tasks and deadlines and things I have to do. I'm very, very bad at it. But I'd, I'd like to go to grad school. I want to eventually teach, whether that be in the next 10 years or in 20 or 30 years, you know, if, if it's like a later in life sort of thing, where I've had all this work and research and experience, like life experience, geology experience, that I can then take into a classroom and do that for the rest of my life. Who knows when that's gonna happen? I really, you know, after two years after graduating from college, you know, with my bachelor's, um, I had always pictured myself being in grad school by now. And it's not what's going on right now, so hopefully, I can figure it out. I'm sending in applications, this fall and winter. Fingers crossed that something good comes out of it. You know, I might apply, maybe get like one or one. If I get I fit like one acceptance letter, I'll be, I'll be happy. I might not go with it. Who knows? Who

Dr. Jesse Reimink: That's right. Well weigh your options. You know, you can apply and see where it lands and if you don't like that one, you know, you'll wait and give it some time and apply the next year. when prospective graduate students approach me, my number one advice is give it some time. Don't rush into, you know, for instance, a PhD cuz you want know why you want the PhD and, and why you wanna finish the PhD because it takes a lot of grit to get through it. So, um, I, I have no doubt you're gonna be great So,

Cate Larsen: Oh, thank.

Chris Bolhuis: Kate. Uh, we have one final question for you. It's our standard question that we ask to close out all our interviews. What has been your best day as a geoscience communicator? As a geoscientist. Just you take it wherever you want to go.

Cate Larsen: In past day, um, I've thought about this question. I read this ahead of time and I thought about it and I was like, I was so sure it was gonna be the day that I got invited to go to a museum and. I was, I was reached out to very early in my, , geo communication career, reached out to by the Museum of Natural History in New York City. And they were looking for, , I guess, influencers to come to a, a private event where we can get a preview of their new, like newly renovated hall of gems and minerals, which I had been obsessed with, and I was following it very closely. Took many a field trip there as a kid and as an adult as well. And so they invited me to come and make some videos there to promote it when it opened a couple weeks later. That was awesome. That was really, really cool. Um, but I, I don't know if that was my best day. Uh, I'm not sure. I, I really, there's just been so many good days. Uh, but what's in each of those days is very, very small things, you know, Take up very short time of the day, all the way up to big things. I mean, I don't know, I don't know if I've had like a best, best day yet, but I have a lot of projects looking forward to, even in the coming month, I got a bunch of cool stuff I'm gonna be doing. So hopefully one of those would be like the best day.

Dr. Jesse Reimink: Well, that's a pretty cool day going to the Smithsonian. I, I know several of the curators there when they were putting that

Cate Larsen: Oh, the, the, uh, it was, it was the one in New York City, so it was the American news. Natural history.

Dr. Jesse Reimink: Yes. I always get them confused. I, I know several of both, but at the American Museum, I was there right when they were tearing it down and got the back, you know, the tour behind the scenes. It's an exception, but the new

Cate Larsen: Oh,

Dr. Jesse Reimink: Looks really good. So, I, I just wanna, I know this isn't the last, we've already, you know, closed out with the last question, but what's coming up that's, uh, exciting you here? What are the projects you're

Cate Larsen: Well, uh,

Dr. Jesse Reimink: to?

Cate Larsen: In a couple of weeks, I'm going out to Southern California to give a geology talk in front of, um, the, beautiful sunset view at, Za Borego State Park. And I'm gonna be giving a talk on the geology of this region and the significance, in the geological history of the world itself. And I'm really looking forward to that. It's gonna be a beautiful view, and my first time giving a talk like that in the field, like in person, rather than just leading a field trip. Um, it's organized by Atheists United of, uh, Los Angeles.

Chris Bolhuis: That's not nerve-wracking at all, is it?

Cate Larsen: No, not, not on at all. I'm very excited about it. I, I, did a sort of thing anyway to random hikers at the park. I just start, you know, Hey, do you wanna know what, what this rock is made of? Do maybe. Please me. Ask me please.

Dr. Jesse Reimink: That's awesome. That, well that sounds really exciting. Um, and, and, uh, Kate, I think we should, uh, try and figure out a way to work together here in the future. This is the, it's really exciting what you're doing. It's very interesting. I, I, I totally appreciative of how much time it takes and how cool your connections you're building with your audience are. And we really appreciate the time, uh, that you've dedicated and given to us to, to meet with us and, and, um, come on Planet Year here. Really appreciate your insights and,

Cate Larsen: Well, thank you so much for having me. This is, you know, I mentioned to you guys before we started recording, this is a very unique interview. I have not been asked these kinds of questions before and I'm really glad that you guys asked them because these are things I've always wanted to talk about, to have people understand what the work is really like and how important it is. So thank you so much for having me and asking me these fantastic question.

Dr. Jesse Reimink: Well, we appreciate the time. It's been, it's been great and it was a pleasure meeting you in person at GSA and, and continuing to, to talk like this. This has been awesome. So thanks for coming on, Kate. Really appreciate it.

Chris Bolhuis: Yeah, absolutely.

It's been an absolute pleasure having you, Kate.

Cate Larsen: Thank you guys.

Dr. Jesse Reimink: Hey, thanks for listening to Planet Geo this week. You can find all the information about kateLarson@groovygeologist.com. There's a link in the show notes. Remember, you can visit our website, learn about Planet Geo, find all of our old episodes, and support planet geo cast.com. There's also a link in the show notes as well and we would really appreciate it if you checked out our new conversational textbook for geosciences. That's geo.camp courses.com and there is also a link in the show notes. Go to all those places.

You can support us. You can follow us on social medias. We're at Planet Geo Cast. Tune in next week. Take care.