The Academy Town Square series is designed to engage and provide relevant educational content to the public on environmental issues. Academy Town Squares focus on critical global issues in environmental science by featuring prominent thought leaders and their findings on water, climate change, evolution and biodiversity and extinction.

Reading the Rocks: How Geology Tells the Earth’s Story
WHYY’s Maiken Scott with Geologist Marica Bjornerud

Thursday, June 13
6:30– 8 p.m.

Schedule of Events:

6 p.m. Bring a favorite stone and geologist and author Marcia Bjornerud will identify what type of rock it is and what its approximate age is before her conversation with WHYY’s Maiken Scott!
6:30 – 8 p.m. Maiken Scott in conversation with Marcia Bjornerud

Our planet is so old, it’s hard to wrap your head around – let alone fathom how short our lifespans on earth are – when compared with just about anything in the realm of geology. Join us for the WHYY & Academy Town Square where Maiken Scott explores with geologist and author Marcia Bjornerud how thinking like a geologist can have immeasurable impacts beyond our time.

Marcia Bjornerud’s book, “Timefulness” (2018), broadens our awareness of Earth's history and how knowing its deep past can give us the perspective we need for a more sustainable future.

In this conversation, Bjornerud shares how geologists document our planet’s 4-billion-year biography. She will contrast the pace of Earth’s processes such as mountain building and erosion with the more unstable rhythms of the oceans and atmosphere. Guests will learn how charting these intertwined earth systems requires a worldview Bjornerud refers to as “timefulness” a long-term thinking that helps us comprehend accelerating planetary change. This sensibility helps us create practical solutions for building a more time-literate society.

In conversation with Maiken Scott, host of WHYY’S “The Pulse,” Bjornerud will share ways of thinking about our place in time, enabling us to make decisions across generations. The lifespan of Earth may seem unfathomable compared to the brevity of human existence, but this view of time denies our deep roots in Earth’s history―and the magnitude of our effects on the planet.

Past Academy Town Squares

Academy Town Square: Grasslands: Restoring Bird Habitat

Maiken Scott, host of WHYY's The Pulse, and bird conservationist Zoe Warner discuss a 10-year study conducted in Chester County that has led to greater insights into bird habitat needs and a visionary plan to protect them.

Academy Town Square Presents: Flooding in Philadelphia's Eastwick Community

In this special Academy Town Square, residents of Eastwick will share their challenges as well as their determined spirit — describing the history of a remarkable community organizing effort and raising awareness of what we can do to support it.

Academy Town Square Presents: More Livable Communities in an Era of Climate Change

As we adapt to our changing climate, unexpected benefits may follow — especially for marginalized communities. Efforts to reduce heating and flooding bring more green spaces that are known to strengthen mental health and improve communities. Emergency preparedness efforts create more accessible areas for older and disabled members of the community. Join us to explore how these solutions to climate change provide an opportunity for equity to marginalized Black and Latino communities.

Views and opinions expressed by the speakers are solely their own and do not necessarily represent any associated institutions.

Academy Town Square Presents: Preparing for a Warmer, Wetter Philadelphia

Climate change is causing Philadelphia not only to heat up, but also to experience more frequent and intense flooding events. In this program we’ll explore how local communities are dealing with increasing temperatures exacerbated by the urban heat island effect; natural cycles of flooding; and how urbanization and climate change impact flooding risks in our city. But where there are challenges, there are people ready to step up and face them. Find out how, from community groups to city government, Philadelphians are making efforts to understand and mitigate the effects of a warmer, wetter Philadelphia.

Academy Town Square Presents: Gideon Mendel Drowning World

Gideon Mendel joined us for an Academy Town Square on May 6 to discuss his engagement with social issues as a photographer and artist, including the challenge of making climate change visible.