Education Lectures
The HardRock Summit will offer a series of educational lectures to entertain and inform. Topics will include gemology, mineralogy and talks focused on the featured special exhibits themed on treasures.
Presentations will interest and engage all HardRock attendees from the mysteries and discovery of the S.S. Central America sunken treasure by its chief research scientist Bob Evans and collection manager Fred Holabird, President and CEO of Holabird Western Americana Collections, LLC.
Additional presentation speakers include Dr. Raquel Alonzo-Perez of the Mineralogical and Geological Museum at Harvard University; Robert Gessner, geologist, gemologist; fancy colored natural diamond specialist Brian Denney of Gems of Note; and the UK’s Kerry Gregory, founder of Gemmology Rocks for what is sure to be a fast-paced and entertaining session.
Lectures Schedule
Thursday 8th September | Room 401
| Time | Topic | Speaker |
| 1:00 PM | Fabulous Colorado Minerals* | Jeff Scovil |
*Signifies lecture was organized by DGMS / the Denver Gem and Mineral Club
Friday 9th September | Room 401 - 402
ROOM 401
| Time | Topic | Speaker |
| 11:00 AM | Collecting Adventures and Recent Finds from the Smoky Hawk Structure* | Joe Dorris |
| 12:00 PM | Gem Quality Hydrocarbons: Time for a new perspective on jet? |
Sarah Caldwell Steele |
| 1:00 PM | When Bad Things Happen to Good Menuites – Predation on Menuites oralensis* | Steve Jorgensen |
| 2:00 PM | Some Famous, or not so much, collecting stories and sites in Colorado | Dr. Peter Modreski |
| 3:00 PM | The Shapes of Gold: natures order and beauty | Dr. Raquel Alonzo-Perez |
ROOM 402
| Time | Topic | Speaker |
| 12:00 PM | Modern Masters of Lapidary and Design, presented by Somewhere in the Rainbow | Shelly Sergent |
| 1:00 PM | KAMTONGA-Making a difference: a life-changing initiative, for a Kenyan mining community |
International Colored Gemstone Association (ICA) |
| 2:00 PM | The SS Central America: Jewelry Influenced by the California Gold Rush |
Fred Holabird |
| 3:00 PM | Treasure from Trash; How to get maximum money out of gemstones from scrap | Kerry Gregory |
Saturday 10th September | Room 401 - 402
ROOM 401
| Time | Topic | Speaker |
| 11:00 AM | Colorado Type Minerals | Ed Raines* |
| 12:00 PM | Notable Minerals Collected from Colorado Localities: Uncommon minerals to uncommon Localities | Mark Ivan Jacobson* |
| 1:00 PM | Rare Earth Elements in Colorado: Pegmatites, Carbonatites and More! |
Phil Persson* |
| 2:00 PM | Colored Diamonds – An opportunity to own true rarity | Brian Denney |
| 3:00 PM | The Future of Natural Diamond Marketing | John Pollard |
ROOM 402
| Time | Topic | Speaker |
| 11:00 AM | Ask the Miner: Experience a day in the life of a 2nd generation miner, from Tanzania | Bjorn Merisheki |
| 12:00 PM | Gem Legacy: a nonprofit’s story and sucesses supporting development for East African artisanal gem mining communities | Rachel Dery-Merisheki |
| 1:00 PM | Lab Grown Diamonds | John Pollard |
| 2:00 PM | The SS Central America: the history of the “Ship of Gold” |
Robert D. Evans |
| 3:00 PM | A Career in East Africa: Tanzanite and Zambian Emerald | Robert Gessner |
*Signifies lecture was organized by DGMS / the Denver Gem and Mineral Club
Sunday 11th September | Room 401
ROOM 401
| Time | Topic | Speaker |
| 11:00 AM | Education, Training & Support for Jewelry Retailers | Avi Levy and John Pollard |
| 1:00 PM | An Overview of the Fluorescent Mineral World* | Brian Walko |
*Signifies lecture was organized by DGMS / the Denver Gem and Mineral Club