Who would have thought that watching an unassuming guy standing in front of a chalkboard, talking about rocks would be such a fantastic way to spend an evening. Time well spent. Thanks, Nick!

Nick, this is a digestible synthesis of what you've taught us Zentnerds over the last 2+ years. Well done!

Nick Zentner is a gem. A rare one.

So this was more touching than I expected. In a way it was a closure, we are back to normal. Then, paralell to listening to the talk, I remembered my whole journey with Nick: How in May 2019 I found his downtown lectures and binged them all, being attracted by the idea that every landscape tells a story, every rock tells one. Then how I found his podcast and listened to it while practising the balalaika. When the pandemic broke there was this silence at the podcast and it took me two weeks to find out what was going on over on youtube. I remembered being smitten with the charm of the backyard-era, with Bijou and the cozy fort, the improvisation and kitchen table techniques that were so successful in making me understand. How in 2020 I decided to buy a road side geology book of eastern Austria, a rock hammer and a hand lens and started to explore the stories the rocks of my city and its surroundings. How I learned to find beauty where I did not expect to... Thank you for all of that, Nick. A toast to you!

After all the copious details and ideas that we have been presented with over the past few years starting with your backyard lectures it is amazing to watch you distill down the essence and tell us the story of these rocks in such a concise way. Nick, you are a natural teacher and storyteller, and that combined with your insatiable and determined curiosity is what keeps us all coming back for each new series. Well done.

Taking the backyard lectures to the school auditorium and formalizing it in slides and animations really clarifies the stories. Thanks Nick!

Watching this in replay is as fun and exciting and happy times for me as was being there live! (And I see me in the audience, lol.) A dream realized for me, I'm such a fan of the Downtown Lectures! And I will always remember Nick walking like a mountain across the stage Thank you, thank you for making geology fun and accessible!

Great stuff. This man could teach a fish to swim better and a bird how to fly with less energy expended. Truly a man born to teach.

Nick, you are born to teach the masses about our Earth. Never stop doing this. Thank you!

Nick. I was just having withdrawals from your lectures and you post this. Made my afternoon. Best lecturer ever.

Nick Zentner & Myron Cook....thet best teachers, period.

Every presentation I've watched over the last couple of years has me dreaming of jumping in my car and road tripping for a month in Washington to experience all the complicated geology I've seen in your videos. And to meet you would be the pinnacle of the trip. You rock, Nick! (No pun intended)😊

Hi all from Nanaimo, Vancouver Island BC

Thank you camera and editing people 🎉

He said, "Grellow!" I loved this talk!

Professor, your presentations have become well polished over time with yet another example of a complex choreograph of events presented so as a average listener can easily make sense of it all. Thank you for making this available .....

Love the "nick"name " Zentnerds" cute. And yes we are hooked on your lectures and field trips Nick. So interesting and stimulating!

Let’s make Nick’s channel blow up in number of subscribers! Best lecturer ever!

I'm so glad I caught this in person

Excellently done, helped me put together some of the things you have tried to teach me over the last 3 years which had become a little 'foggy' with all the detail. Thank you.

Very nice presentation! Easy to understand, easy to follow. 😀

Excited to watch! Love the concise focused format of these, always easy to show others these as they capture people’s imagination when the ideas and concepts are laid out like this. Many new followers are introduced to Nick on these town square videos. Thank You!

I'm 64 and also from the Pacific Northwest, My dad worked for NOAA and I remember people talking about plate tectonics and terrain rafting. Thanks for that memory lane, Nick! Love your 'talks'; Again thanks!

Again ye come, ye hovering Forms! I find ye, As early to my clouded sight ye shone! Shall I attempt, this once, to seize and bind ye? Still o'er my heart is that illusion thrown? Its always good to meet old friends ;-)

Thanks for posting these Nick. It's always great to watch your presentations. I learn something new each and every time. You make learning fun!

Even if one were to read every paper that went into this brilliant lecture, it would be impossible for most of us to visualize let alone comprehend the four-dimensional reconstruction of PNW history presented by Professor Nick. Thank you, sir!

What a great summary of those exotic terranes. Having the background of your A-Z lecture, I could follow completely while you talked. Looking forward to the next 3. And thanks for sharing Bijou. Miss seeing him. Thank you so much Nick.

👏👏👏👏 Fun Lecture! Thanks, Nick! A nice review!

Fantastic talk

“I can’t hold it!”, wow! 5x5 on the message!! Nicely crafted and curated (right down to the computer wizardry on the big screen!). Thanks Nick

Thanks, Nick, for another wonderful lecture. You do such an excellent job of painting an understandable picture of our geologic past, and today's lecture gave me such a better picture of the whole Baja BC process. I look forward to seeing more of these lectures.

Awesome lecture, Nick!! When weather and 'life' are more permitting, I WILL make it over for one of these in-person... The Idaho trip in August is inviting!!! Thanks for posting!!!

The immigrant metaphor, and personal story about Nick Zentner traveling from Sweden to his new home destination in NA, but we don’t “exactly” know how or the specific details of the mode of travel was perfect for me, that was a really good and relatable anchor for the overarching theme and story.

Ok, I can't stand it!! You're back! I was so thrilled when I heard last Fall about the Spring series of lectures I could hardly wait...then this winter became unending (we need the moisture in the PNW, be grateful, be grateful!!❤). I did not get to follow the Baja BC alphabet nearly as closely as I have other series but this summation helped me understand a lot of it and I'll go back and catch up. I was already curious but your relentless enthusiasm for the unanswered question, the unresolved mystery, and the quest keep me coming back. I can't tell you how many friends I've shared your videos with to explain things they saw while traveling the PNW. I send them to people before they leave and say things like, "OK, when you get to "X" place, turn this on and just start listening....when you get to Dry Falls (for example), stop, get a snack, walk the dog then watch this segment (insert time codes)." They're hooked playing tourist in their own (or my) backyard. My friend is a master gardner & landscaper and was putting some Montana river rock in a dry creek he was creating in a yard and started talking about the color differences from the local river rock and said, "Hummm, I wonder what Nick would say about these rocks from the Rockies vs. the Cascades..." (those rocks in Lake McDonald...pretty colorful). Later went to find a video. As so many have said, consumate teacher, wonderful storyteller, keeper of the legacies (the Bretz video is in the que for tonight and I hope there are more indigenous/Native stories, videos, talks coming as well). Hope you hit the road sometime soon too, would love to see you in MT!🎉

Still doing good Nick! Glad to see you back on the stage! 😎✌️👍☕

Yay the chalkboards are back!

I have no idea why I keep watching these over the years, it's just so good. Wish I had professors like you when I was in college lol.

Fabulous! Thanks Nick.

Nick Zentner...Always offering a free yet world class education to the masses! I can't even express how much I've learned from his lectures and how appreciative I am that he is willing to share his knowledge with us! Incredible! Thank you, Nick!

As a BC kid who loved geology but was too dyscalculic to get very far in university science I really appreciate these lectures. I got into your stuff when I went on my ice age floods road trip last summer but as someone who lives between Harrison Lake and Mt Baker and who has always wanted a good accessible narrative history of local geology your work is a dream come true!

Nick - I love, how you present this complex geology to the general public. Thanks!

This was perfect Nick. The photos really put it in context for me. Have followed the Baja/BC and I've learned more in the last couple years than I knew existed from you and others. It's a great time to be curious!

25 years while I was in southern Baja I met a Mexican Geologist whom believed that Vancouver Island was once part Mexico.

What an incredible story this is. I never had a clue before discovering Nick Zentner. I continue to watch and marvel at this professor and knowledge embedded within the very rock itself.

Thank you for all your lectures. I can't believe, I can get such amazing content for free.

Thanks, Professor Zentner!

IT'S ON!

Great lecture Nick. I even learned some new things. Thank you. Could you please do a talk about the terrains of Western Washington

Thank you Nick for carrying us along so to speak. I was there at the beginning of the back yard amateur videos……cozy tent and all. Such a nice escape for the time we lived through. Someone Should create a badge for people to pin on their vests and hats in proud remembrance.

Thanks Nick. Back in Sydney, Australia for a couple of weeks. Very busy, but will make time to watch your prodcasts and pass the word here.

Nick Zentner is just the best! He makes the complicated easy to understand. This video will definitely get a second viewing from me. So much to take in.

GNEISS WORK AND THEME NICK AND EACH TIME I WATCH THESE THEY ACCRETE TO MY BRAIN A BIT MORE. LOOKING FORWARD TO THE "REST OF THE STORY". THANKS AGAIN.

I wasn't expecting to see the first of your new lectures today, so I'm a happy camper now! Gracias!

Thank you, Nick! I really enjoyed the way you broke it down into easily digestible chunks. It helped me make sense of what you and your guests have been explaining to us.

Nick is a literal Time Machine, creating, folding and moving rocks then folding space and time of a journey 500 Ma year journey into an hour of "Human" time to see and feel the vast picture of our home: The Earth!! Humble thanks to you Herr Professor!!!

Thank you Nick for posting this was brilliant surprise to wake up to really enjoyed it. Thank you in advance for the spring videos we plan to revisit the Pacific North West from the 18th August they will give us good ideas on where to explore. Take care and best wishes

Nick, you are golden. The presentation is very intriguing. I live on the Oregon Coast on Deer Hill Drive. Every house out here is on a hill with steep sides. I’m thinking these are clumps of land brought in over millions of years because they are not due to erosion. Geology right under my feet.

the dreadfull events in hawaii messed with my head so i binge watched some of nicks' geology lectures to mellow.

Love the high resolution of this tape

It's amazing that we can understand any of this.. Thank you and all who have helped us understand much more about geology. You Rock Sr.

Hours upon hours rerunning lectures. So many zeroes. These latest lectures has me saying,about time.

Thank U Nick

Been waiting for this. Glad you're back doing these. We'll done.

Well presented, as a geologist in the Pacific I enjoyed the lecture. Well done.

This gifted professor just keeps on giving

How very marvelous! Putting the story together in a way that is helping me understand it even better. Thank you Nick. Thank you also to the gentleman who filmed this set of talks and made a wonderful production.

Nick, once again, you let me want to visit those immigrant(?!😁) Rocks and wonder!😃 Thanks to Gary for those wonderful photos, it is delight...😄💞💗

I didnt think I missed these videos as much as I do.

I am quickly becoming a Zentner junkie! Can't get enough of your lectures and how vivid you make out geologic histories!. And I live in the American heartland, NE Ohio. Hoping to eventually make my way out to Washington to see your lectures made real.

Thank You Dr Z. i'm looking forward to paleo-magnetism! 🙏💜

Excellent! What an amazing story!

I want to pay you a compliment. You’re really good at this!

Another excellent lecture - Love the style of presentation - Wish my lecturers were as good back in the 80's

Yes! The lectures are back!

I do not know anything about geology, but this is the third lecture by this professor that I have watched. Very interesting and even entertaining.

Endlessly fascinating lecture as usual. Maybe more interesting is the revelation that there was a boat in the Pacific Ocean 290 million years ago... who were these boat people???

A fitting ancestry, Nick! The Alps are very much a living mountain range, as Africa keeps pushing northward. The village of Elm is on the north side of the mountains where the Rhine starts its life - to reach the sea (= Atlantic) past Rotterdam, from where many emigrants left for America.

Hi Nick. I have a Geolgist friend teaching me the geology of Idaho. i went to visit him in Moscow Idaho after his wife gave birth to their first child. on my way home from Moscow ID. to Nampa ID we were nearing time change bridge when i received a text message from him telling me about a green strip of land crushed into a vertical strip of green rock. He explained that it was from the islands that had crashed into north America as the north American plate plowed into the islands of the pacific ocean as it moved west. i saw the green seam of rock and stopped along highway 95 just north of time change bridge and picked up a few pieces for my collection. I love you explanation as it expanded on the idea with much more in depth information.

I was an international student from Saudi Arabia in WA. a state that I never stop talking about. I was not fortunate enough to be a student of Nick Zentner. I love your work Nick!

Nick: your Geologic Immigrants stories do a great job of showing the “Power of Plate Tectonics” just like you said! We are seeing the Power of a Great Teacher! Thank you for putting this all together in your head and explaining it to us! I get it that Mt Stuart was a “shallow” batholith that traveled underground on its plate and is now considered to be part of the Coast Plutonic Complex! Yes! Wow moment when you said that the Skagit Gneiss is now considered to be from the Napeequa Schist that was from the limestone above the huge Oceanic Plateau! I had to get out my Skagit Gneiss from Gorge Falls along Rt 20 and look at it with fresh eyes. I also got out my Chilliwack Terrane sample from the east side of Mt Baker Lake Dam (Miller/Cowan p 110) and thought about the Yellow Aster Butte complex. Must go to Artist Point this year from Boston. Thanks for your amazing presentation that makes the complexity understandable! Wonderful journey!

I just discovered this channel and binged watched a bunch of your lectures. Thank you Nick for taking the time to make these lectures available on you tube.

All of your videos deserve to have at least two or three orders of magnitude in terms of numbers of views.

Great presentation, Mr Zentner! I've watched a lot of your stuff as your study area is next-door to my home. I live in the BC Kootenays, 50 mi N of the 49, up roughly from Colville. We call the Cascade Mountains the Columbia Mountains. This detail messed my geography as our Kootenay real estate seemed an orphan discussed by very few other than heavy metal mining geologists. The edge of the N Am craton passes through Kootenay Lake, one of the strike/slip major faults slashing through BC that facilitate the northern travel of the Baja emigrants. It's wonderful to have the geology of the Pacific West presented as a whole. That pesky 49 was a man-imposed barrier that has retarded both countries' understanding of their own lands. I applaud your three year search and consolidation. Its wonderful to learn about one's backyard from a friendly knowledgeable neighbour. I heard about Baja-BC years ago, but little was available for easy research by an amateur.

Thank you, sir. I greatly appreciate what you do.

I enjoyed this lecture in person enormously! It had been just over three years since I had planned to attend the last Downtown Lecture - cancelled by covid. Thanks for picking these back up Nick, I look forward to seeing the two that I missed!

Im watching and re-watching and re-re-watching everything he's done. This now make more sense than ever!

Nick, thanks for this, and for the transcript! So helpful. I’d like to assist with that, if it would be a help to you. I’m talking adding punctuation to make sentences and eliminating some trumpian capitalizing of odd words, as well as converting “terrain” to “terrane,” for example. Thanks again!

Thanks Nick I am one of those geology guys that had the Stanford education in plate tectonics. Not at Stanford but my advisor was one of the original think tank brains to make up the terminology and develop the model. I am learning from you, and one that understands the nuances of your lessons, and your "more to the story." Thank you and keep your high energy and clear lectures coming. Your a good teacher.

Fascinating lecture sir! I as part of 3 geologist teams mapped a 10 mile radius around the then-proposed Skagit Nuclear power plant near Concrete. I recall mapping a lovely garnet schist one day- wonder if it folds into your riveting story. Thank you!

What an amazing story. thanks!

fascinating,thank you for a most interisting talk,most enjoyable.

My similar immigrant story also from Glarus Switzerland to New Glarus WI, a Sitznick and a Legler and a Speich figure in. I studied geology with Dr. Pestrong and others at SF State in the early 1970s. Wish now I'd have stayed with it. At that time I also had a Biology professor, Dr. Larry Swan, who you put me in mind of. He was a fabulous teacher.... as are you.

Men of rock Dr Ian Stewart he is a quiet spoken chap like nick worth a look

Amazing information. I would love to see and learn more about the San Juans, especially Sucia Island.

my favorite Prof Zentner moments!

I miss seeing the crowd arriving and taking their seats or chatting with Nick before the show, shame that was edited out this year.

"Zentnerds" - I like that and, yes, I'm obsessed. Spent a week in Spokane with friends. Was able to identify some 'pillow lava', and the Spokane River was more interesting b/c of Nick.

“Yeah, there are a couple of whales, but we’re lookin’ at rocks, man!” ❤

Got an dressed down by 4th grade teacher for "Too much imagination" when I was convinced that S.America and Africa were together at one time date: 1962.😁

I knew you were gonna call it the Mt Stuart batholith 🎉 Thank you, Professor Nick.