About Oliver Strimpel
I started with physics as an undergraduate at Cambridge University, then astrophysics for my DPhil at Oxford University, and then went to the Science Museum, London, as curator for mathematics and computing. There I discovered the rewards and challenges of conveying scientific and technological subjects to a public with a wide range of prior knowledge. In 1984, I was recruited to The Computer Museum in Boston where, as Curator and Director, I developed exhibitions on the history, technology, and applications of computers. Later, I became a patent attorney, and was appointed Senior Patent Counsel at Avid Technology, Inc.
My desire to understand how the physical landscape came to be led me to wonder about the processes that have been at work since the planet formed over four billion years ago. Over the past decade, I became increasingly fascinated by what geology has uncovered about these processes, taking several courses at the Open University and at MIT. At MIT, Professor Sam Bowring invited me to learn about geochronology in his lab. Then, on a field trip to Annapurna, Professor Mike Searle encouraged me to take on a research project as a visiting fellow at Oxford. That developed into an effort to pin down movement along the Karakoram fault in Ladakh by radiometrically dating the various intrusive phases adjacent to the fault near Lake Pangong. Geology Bites grew out of a desire to share nuggets and perspectives of this remarkable field of study.
Geology Bites in the News
Guertin, L., and Strimpel, O. (2021), GeoEd Trek, AGU https://blogs.agu.org/geoedtrek/2021/05/26/geology-bites/
Johnson, T (2022), Book review: Geology Bites podcast by Oliver Strimpel. Geological Magazine https://doi.org/10.1017/S0016756822000024
Peters, C., and Strimpel, O. (2022), The Geological Society of Australia, The Australian Geologist, 202, 30 Geology Bites Podcast
Sherman, S (2022), And The Next Thing You Know Podcast Interview with Oliver Strimpel
Peters, C (2022), Proceedings of the Open University Geological Society, 8, 145 Podcast Review, Geology Bites
Lo, M (2022), GEOSCIENTIST, Autumn 2022, 46 Geology Bites Podcast Review
Acknowledgements
I’m very grateful to Mike Searle for his enthusiastic support and advice; Steve Lord and Harriet Strimpel for constructive criticism of the content; John Kubale for graphic design; Steve Lord and Nelson Eby for editing the transcripts and compiling the glossaries; Mary McCann for copy editing the website, transcripts, and glossaries; Sherri Donaldson for help with social media; and Rob Gonsalves and Randy Fayan for technical advice.