Special Announcements and News

Georgia State University
Student Presentation
Fossil Hunting
Tuesday, October 15, 2024, 7:00 PM
Hybrid Meeting

The Georgia Mineral Society will host a Senior Seminar for Earth Sciences presenting educational resources for fossil hunting and paleontology. The presentation will be suitable for all ages and will promote responsible collecting practices and ethical fossil hunting. This topic is relevant to both paleontology and archeology, important studies in Georgia, which has a rich supply of interesting fossils and a wide variety of prehistoric cultural artifacts.

The meeting will be broadcast on Zoom, using the link here (also available on the GMS Google calendar here). The Zoom session will open at 7:00 PM and the live meeting will start at 7:30 PM, to allow any technical difficulties to be resolved and participants to meet each other.

Aaron Leatherwood and Magnolia McLaughlin
Recipients of Awards

GMS member Aaron Leatherwood has been selected as a recipient of the Mineralogical Society of America’s 2023 Undergraduate Prize (formerly American Mineralogist Undergraduate (AMU) Award) that recognizes outstanding students who have shown an interest and ability in the discipline of mineralogy.

GMS member Magnolia McLaughlin has been selected as a recipient of the Georgia State University's Department of Geosciences' 2022-2023 David E. Ogren Award "in recognition of professional activity, service, and participation in departmental activities & scholastic achievement." She was also accepted as a student member of the American Institute of Professional Geologists.

Congratulations Aaron and Magnolia!!!

Cameron Muskelly came to GMS as a junior and grew to become a paleontology ambassador. He is well-known in the paleontology community and was asked by the BBC and PBS to be interviewed for a Nova episode on PBS titled "Dinosaur Apocalypse: The New Evidence"

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/video/dinosaur-apocalypse-the-new-evidence/

Please enjoy this show!

GMS Facebook Photo Contest!
Deadline May 31, 2023

We’ve had the same Facebook banner since 2013, a photo of our clubhouse, and while we love our clubhouse, it’s about time for a change! We are holding a photo contest for all ages to see what you love about being a member of GMS and select a winning photo (or photos) to use on our Facebook page. Please submit all photos with a description of how it represents what our club means to you by May 31st. Winners will be chosen by a member voting committee. If you would like to be on this committee you can also send an email to the Corresponding Secretary email address.

As usual, if the photo was taken on a GMS field trip, please scrub all location data.

So, look through all those pictures you’ve taken or get out there and take some new ones, but either way we’re excited to see how you love GMS as much as we do!

Click HERE for the contest submission form.

For more information contact Cristina Clines at

New GMS Decals!

For a donation of only $5, you can get a cool GMS decal!!!

Shipping is FREE, so there is a limit of 20 decals per shipment.

The vinyl sticker is 4 inches by 4 inches and the all white color will pop on the exterior of any vehicle window. These can also be applied on water bottles, laptops, phone cases, etc. (Click here for decal application instructions)

All proceeds over cost will be used for educational activities.

Get your decals in person from Cristina Clines the next time you see her at a GMS event.

-OR-

Order your decals via PayPal on the donation page here.

Supplies are limited, so get your decal soon!

For more information contact Cristina Clines at

Ana Places 3rd in AFMS Poster Contest 2021

GMS junior member Ana was awarded 3rd place in the 2nd grade division with her poster about Rose Quartz in the 2021 American Federation of Mineralogical Societies (AFMS) National Youth Poster Contest.

Congratulations Ana!!! Great Work!

Read more about Ana's poster in the Junior Member Writings section of the website under Education here.

Cameron Muskelly Selected as the
Recipient of the 2020 Katherine Palmer Award

GMS member Cameron Muskelly has been selected by the Paleontological Research Institution as the recipient of the 2020 Katherine Palmer Award for oustanding contributions to the field of paleontology as a non-professional. The award will be presented April 17, 2020 at the annual Fossil Expo of the of the Mid-America Paleontology Society in Macomb, Illinois.

Congratulations Cam!!!

Read more about the Katherine Palmer award and past recipients at https://www.priweb.org/research/palmer-award.

More information about the Fossil Expo is available at http://www.midamericapaleo.org/

SFMS Workshop Scholarship Raffle

Get your SFMS raffle tickets now for a chance at some spectacular prizes!!!

Tickets are only $5 each or 5 for $20

Each ticket purchased through GMS also increases the odds that a GMS member could win an SFMS Workshop Scholarship.

To purchase tickets, see Juergen Poppelreuter or click the following to send email to Juergen's adopt-a-mile email

Bill Montante on front page of The Catoosa County News

GMS member Bill Montante was the subject of the main article on the front page of February 2017 issue of The Catoosa County News! His work as a volunteer at Tellus Science Museum has introduced many people to the science of paleontology. His own field work has resulted in numerous discoveries. Read about him in the newspaper: http://www.northwestgeorgianews.com/eedition_cn/page-a/page_6c899efc-9f8e-5dba-ad4f-fe8dd681647b.html

New GMS Juniors T-Shirts!

For a donation of only $12, you can get a cool t-shirt with artwork drawn by GMS juniors!

All proceeds over cost will be used for educational activities.

Get your t-shirts the next time you are at a general meeting, field trip, special event, section meeting, workshop etc.

-OR-

Send a check/money order for $12 per t-shirt plus $5 for shipping/handling payable to Lori Carter to: 4138 Steve Reynolds Blvd, Norcross, GA 30093 Please allow 3 weeks for delivery.

Supplies are limited, so get your t-shirt soon! All youth and adult sizes are available!

Also Available

Remake of Classic GMS T-Shirts!

For a donation of only $10, you can choose "Party Like it's the Permian" with a party animal dinosaur or "Earth First" with a peaceful alien.

All proceeds over cost will be used for educational activities.

Get your t-shirts the next time you are at a general meeting, field trip, special event, section meeting, workshop etc.

-OR-

Send a check/money order for $10 per t-shirt ($15 for XXL) plus $5 for shipping/handling payable to Lori Carter to: 4138 Steve Reynolds Blvd, Norcross, GA 30093 Please allow 3 weeks for delivery.

Supplies are limited, so get your t-shirt soon! Only large and x-large available!

For more information contact Lori Carter at

Minerals of Georgia: Their Properties and Occurrences
By Robert B. Cook and Julian C. Gray
Edited by Jose Santamaria

The book we have all been waiting for! Everyone familiar with "Bulletin 92" will be happy to see this new book.

Congratulations to Robert Cook, professor emeritus of the Department of Geology and Geography at Auburn University; Julian Gray, GMS member and executive director of the Rice Museum in Hillsboro, Oregon; and Jose Santamaria, GMS member and executive director of Tellus Science Museum in Cartersville, GA.

For a press release, click here

For the UGA Press website click here

For the Minerals of Georgia Facebook page click here

Donation!!!

Recently GMS received a donation of two 14 inch segmented diamond saw blades from our neighbor, Northside Tool Rental at 1547 Beaver Ruin Road, Norcross, GA.

Many thanks to Northside Tool Rental for their kind and generous donation!

Heavy Sand Article

The Rock & Gem special gold issue is now available and this time it contains an article about heavy sand processing written by sand Section chair Lori Carter!

To purchase a copy of the magazine, please see the special issue website at: http://www.beckettmedia.com/special-issues/rock-n-gem-sip

Diamond Hill Article

A new article about the Diamond Hill Mine near Antreville, SC is now available in the March-April 2015 issue of "The Mineralogical Record".

The article was written by Chester Karwoski, former owner of the Diamond Hill Mine. Many of his specimens, from Diamond Hill and elsewhere in Georgia and South Carolina, are on display at Tellus Science Museum. You also might know him as a dealer (Oconee Minerals) at the GMS show in May.

To purchase a copy of the magazine, please see the Mineralogical Record website at: http://www.mineralogicalrecord.com/detail.asp?id=331

For a preview of the article, click here

Roxanne Lopez is Girl Scouts 2014 August Volunteer of the Month!

Fabiola Pimentel, Cobb Membership Specialist, writes the following about Roxanne:

Roxanne is the volunteer troop coordinator at Argyle Elementary school, troop 961. She has been in this position for over 5 years. She lives by the Girl Scout mission and she transmits this passion to the girls in her troop. Every year she and six other volunteers give over 100 girls the opportunity to experience the Girl Scout program. Not only, does she coordinate the logistics of recruitment, but also serves as the troop leader, chocolate and magazine chair and cookie chair. She also organizes outings for the girls like; sleep over for daisies and camping for brownies and juniors every year. Additionally, Roxanne serves as the leader for a Girl Scout Robotic team.Thanks to the commitment of Roxanne girls of courage, confidence, and character are built every year at Argyle Elementary.

Congratulations Roxanne!!!

[from Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta -- webmaster]

GMS in the News!!!

(September 2014) Read an article about Bill Waggener teaching 6th grade students about earth science at at the Fulton Science Academy in the Fulton Science Academy Blog here

(September 2014) Read an article about Bill Waggener teaching 3rd grade students about rocks and minerals at West Side Elementary on the Marietta Schools website here

(November 2013) Read an article about Bill Waggener teaching students about fossils at the Fulton Science Academy in the Fulton Science Academy Blog here

(September 2013) Read an article about GMS in the Gwinnett Daily Post here

(November 2012) Read an article about Bill Waggener teaching students about geology at the Fulton Science Academy in the Alpharetta-Milton Patch here

(October 2012) Read an article about Bill Waggener teaching sixth graders about rocks at Campbell Middle School in the COBBCAST blog here

Julian Gray Wins Image of Distinction in Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition!

Julian Gray was awarded "Image of Distinction" for his photomicrograph of a vauxite crystal cluster.

His winning entry can be seen here .

Congratulations Julian!!!

(This photomicrograph is also available here under "Member Art")

Father, Son Kickstarting Mineralogy

We're trying again on Kickstarter to raise awareness for mineralogy and mineral collecting! Please note, we're not selling anything. But we do need your help, chatter and support to get this project rolling! We're creating free downloadable educational content for kids and educators and we're trying to get a more formative television show going about mineral collecting! Please, if you value mineral collecting, you won't have to put in much effort at all to help out a bunch! It's as easy as forwarding a link, reviewing the project, "Liking" us on Facebook and "Re-Tweeting" our content on Twitter. Simple!

Kickstarter.com is a crowd funding website, where projects are submitted and approved by the staff to get a much needed funding boost from people all over the world. Well our project "Minerals or Bust!" was approved and we launched it on the Fourth of July! Now we need your support! We have specific goals, aims and budgets listed on the project website, so please take a minute to look it over. Two years ago we launched a project that failed to get the funding we needed, but we're not ones to roll over and give up! So we regrouped and created a bigger, better project!

Sadly, Mineral collecting is an interest that is dying out and we want desperately to breathe some new life into this great past time. There are practically no young faces at swap meets, in local clubs and at conferences and if we don't do something fun and entertaining to grab some new interest now we'll lose an entire branch of scientific study. Every year notices circulate about friends and colleagues who made great strides in mineralogy who've passed away. Their collections and research materials disappear, sometimes just into the dumpster! Oh, what a true shame that is!

But that's where we can help! There's no better bunch to put a comical spin on some educational awareness about minerals right now than a goofball father/son team with an extensive mineralogy background. Over the years we've been members of the Nittany Mineralogical Society, Kyana Geological Society, the Georgia Mineral Society, the Coon Creek Non-Meetings in Arkansas, the Montgomery Gem and Mineral Society, Alabama Mineral & Lapidary Society, Friends of Mineralogy Midwest, FM Southeast, the Northern California Mineralogical Association and Southern California FM! Our project deadline is August 28th, 2014. Please help us Kickstart an entertaining and informative series about gems, minerals and mineralogy!

Our project on Kickstarter.com: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jbarwood/minerals-or-bust-season-one-episode-one

"Like" our Facebook.com page with additional news/info: https://www.facebook.com/Minerals3DHD

Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MineralsOrBust

Website coming soon: http://www.mineralsorbust.com

All support, be it a "Tweet", a "Like" or just good word of mouth, is greatly appreciated!

-- Adam and Bump Barwood