The Geological Battle Beneath the Battlefield, July 1, 2026 6:00PM

Item details

Date

July 1, 2026 6:00PM

Name

The Geological Battle Beneath the Battlefield

Description

The Kinsley Theater | Doors Open at 6 p.m. | Free Tickets Required in Advance

 

July 1: Dr. Jesse Reimink and Chris Bolhuis: From Pangea to Pennsylvania – The Geological Battle Beneath the Battlefield

 

Before the first shot was fired, the outcome of the Battle of Gettysburg was already being shaped — by nearly a billion years of Earth history. The rocks beneath this hallowed ground have witnessed colliding continents, inland seas teeming with ancient life, cataclysmic volcanic eruptions, and the slow breakup of the supercontinent Pangaea. But geology wasn't just a backdrop to the battle. It was an active participant. The cavernous boulders of Devil's Den, the commanding height of Little Round Top, the subtle ridgelines that funneled armies towards collision — these were not accidents of fate. They were the product of deep time, written into the landscape long before Lee and Meade ever set foot on Pennsylvania soil. Fault systems shaped the roads armies marched on. Rock outcrops determined where men sought cover and where artillery found purchase. The land itself chose sides. In this talk, we bring that billion-year story to life — and show how the ground beneath your feet helped decide the fate of a nation. 

 

Dr. Jesse Reimink is an Associate Professor and the Rudy L. Slingerland Early Career Professor in the Geosciences Department at Penn State University. He is also the director of the new "Energy Transition" Entrepreneurship and Innovation Cluster within the College Earth and Mineral Sciences. Dr. Reimink co-directs the LionChron geochemistry and geochronology facility where his research focuses on the formation and evolution of continents, understanding magmatic and hydrothermal systems at a variety of scales, and developing new geochronological and geochemical tools to refine our understanding of outstanding petrological problems. Dr. Reimink also co-hosts the successful geoscience podcast, The PlanetGeo Podcast, and is the founder of a company focused on developing geological visual audiobook series. Dr. Reimink graduated from Hope College with a Bachelor's of Science in Geology with a minor in Biology. He attended the University of Alberta for his PhD work, after which he was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Carnegie Institution's Department of Terrestrial Magnetism (now the Earth and Planets Laboratory). He has been at Penn State since 2019. 

 

Chris Bolhuis is a veteran educator with over 30 years of experience at Hudsonville Public Schools in Michigan. A nationally recognized teacher, Chris is known for his passion for geoscience education and his ability to create meaningful, hands-on learning experiences for students. A graduate of Grand Valley State University, Chris began his career at Hudsonville High School, where he has taught geoscience and astronomy for three decades. He has also led an immersive three-week geology field course to the western United States for the past 25 years, giving students the opportunity to engage directly with geologic processes in the field. In addition, Chris has developed a number of innovative courses, including a college-level Introduction to Geology. Chris’s excellence in teaching and mentorship has been recognized with numerous honors, including the 2013 AAPG National Earth Science Teacher of the Year, selection as a finalist for the 2020 Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching, the 2021 Midwestern Section of the National Association of Geoscience Teachers (NAGT) Teacher of the Year, and the 2021 American Geophysical Union Mentor Award.