Jonathan R. Bryan, PhD

Dr. Jon Bryan is available for free public lectures, presentations and other community service. His main topics include regional and Florida Geology, fossils, and related topics for K-12 and adult audiences. There is no charge for this Speaker's Bureau service of Northwest Florida State College. See sample topics below. Contact bryanj@nwfsc.edu  or office (850) 729-5246 for information.  

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 Public Lectures/Presentations

 

• 2022 Agatized Coral in Florida and Georgia. Playground Gem and Mineral Society, Ft. Walton Beach, FL

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• 2021 Geology and Environmental History of Eglin Reservation, Florida Panhandle. 14th Mattie M. Kelly Environmental Institute Symposium. Northwest Florida State College.

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• 2019 Reefs of Florida—Past and Present. 12th Mattie M. Kelly Environmental Institute Symposium.

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• 2019 Special Educational Project: Fossil Site Excavation. Took NWF State College Paleontology class to central Florida during spring break (17-23 March) to assist Florida Museum of Natural History (University of Florida) in Miocene vertebrate fossil excavation.

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• 2018 Introducing Astrobiology. Playground Gem and Mineral Society, Ft. Walton Beach, FL.

 

• 2017 Dinosaur Zoo Live Fossil Exhibit. Prepared and hosted a large fossil display for more than 2,000 school children who attended the national touring education/entertainment production of “Erth’s Dinosaur Zoo Live” from Australia at Mattie Kelly Arts Center, Northwest Florida State College. 

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• 2015  Salt of the Earth-The Geological History of Life’s Most Essential Nutrient. At: Playground Gem & Mineral Society, Ft. Walton Beach and at Science Friday Seminar, Northwest Florida State College.

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• 2015 Geological Overview of Okaloosa County, FL. At: Heritage Museum of Northwest Florida, “Okaloosa Anniversary 2015” Centennial Celebration of Okaloosa County, Florida.

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• 2014  Coastal Dune Lakes - Jewels of Florida's Emerald Coast. Participated in film and book interview by Live Oak Production Group for a PBS (public television) documentary. Video clip at ​https://vimeo.com/ondemand/coastaldunelakes. Available topic: Geology & Origin of Coastal Dune Lakes.

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• 2014 Geology of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, Walton & Bay Counties, FL. At: Playground Gem & Mineral Society, Ft. Walton Beach and at Mattie Kelly Environmental Institute Symposium on Choctawhatchee Bay.

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• 2014 Paleontology Meets Archeology—Using Fossils to Determine the Provenance of Lithic Artifacts and Debitage in Florida. At: Emerald Coast Archaeology Society, Indian Temple Mound Museum, Ft. Walton Beach, FL

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• 2014 - 08 Foundations of Eden—A Roadside Geological Tour of Florida. At: Pensacola Audubon Society; Florida Paleontological Society; Tampa Bay Fossil Club; Northwest Florida State College Science Friday Lecture Series; Heritage Museum; & NWF State College Prime Time Lunch & Learn 

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• 2014 The Department of Natural Sciences at Northwest Florida State College -  At: Florida Learns STEM Scholars Program and at Panhandle Area Educational Consortium, DeFuniak Springs.

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• 2013 Stromatolites—Earth’s Earliest Living Structures. At: Playground Gem and Mineral Society, Ft. Walton Beach, FL and at Mattie Kelly Environmental Institute Annual Symposium 2013.

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• 2013 Geological Overview of the Choctawhatchee Basin. At: Okaloosa County Master Gardeners Association and ​at South Walton Citizens’ Council.

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• 2012 Mineralogy & Gemology 101. At: Playground Gem and Mineral Society, Ft. Walton Beach, FL.

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• 2011 The Sundial at Northwest Florida State College. At: DeFuniak Springs Kiwanis Club;​ Niceville United Methodist Church Young at Heart Group; ​ and NWF State College Institute for Senior Professionals Lunch & Learn.

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• 2010 What has Athens to do with Jerusalem? The Relation of Science to Religion. At: Unitarian - Universalist Fellowship of the Emerald Coast.

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• 2009 Evolution and Extinction in the Fossil Record. Part of special 5-part Public Lecture Series on Evolution at Northwest Florida State College 

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• 2009-08 Geological Overview of the Choctawhatchee Basin. At: Choctawhatchee Audubon Society and at Mattie Kelly Environmental Institute Symposium on Choctawhatchee Bay

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• 2006-1997  Mosasaurs—Sea Serpents of the Cretaceous Period and Sea Serpents: Past and Present, Real  & Imagined. At: Northwest Florida State College Science Friday Symposium; Choctawhatchee Audubon Society; Mid-Bay Rotary Club - discussion & exhibition of the skeletal remains of a mosasaur discovered, excavated, and reconstructed by NWF students and faculty.​

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• 1999 The Geology and Paleontology of the Suwannee Limestone of North Florida. At: Four Rivers Audubon Society, Lake City, Florida

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• 1999 Ways of Relating Science and Faith in the Classroom. At: Southeastern Geological Society of America Theme Session: “Approaching Questions of Origins in Earth Science Education: Creative Solutions to Evolving Controversies” 

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• 1998 The Salt Mountain Limestone of Southwestern Alabama and the Post-Cretaceous Recovery of Reef Ecosystems. At: Pensacola Section of the American Chemical Society, Pensacola, FL.

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• 1996 Fuss-n-Feathers: The Fossil Record of Birds and the Relation of Birds and Dinosaurs.  At: Choctawhatchee Audubon Society.