Dixie Forum: A Window to the World

Dixie State University's weekly lecture series "Dixie Forum: A Window on the World" will get underway for the spring semester with the presentation "Behind the Landscapes: Geological Perspectives on the Navajo Sandstone" by Dixie State University Field Institute Director Dr. Gerald Bryant.

The Navajo Sandstone is the scenic focus of many southwestern landscapes, including those featured in Snow Canyon State Park and Zion National Park. Beyond its modern visual appeal, however, this rock unit provides surprisingly detailed insights into a lost Jurassic world dominated by desert dunes. This Dixie Forum presentation will illustrate processes of outcrop interpretation by highlighting some of the most remarkable features that Bryant has encountered in more than two decades of research among these rocks.

Bryant earned a bachelor's degree from Utah State University, a master's from Loma Linda University and a doctorate from University of Toronto in geology. He has conducted various pilot programs for Dixie State's Field Institute, including the development of an ongoing research and teaching collaboration with Swansea University faculty that provided undergraduate research experiences. Additionally, he has supervised graduate field research projects, provided field training and led multiple field excursions on the Colorado Plateau.

In addition to publishing multiple titles on topics ranging from early Jurassic Navajo Sandstone to field education in the geosciences, Bryant is involved with the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Geological Society of America, International Association of Sedimentologists and SEPM Society for Sedimentary Geology.

Dixie Forum is a weekly lecture series designed to introduce the St. George community and DSU students, faculty and staff to diverse ideas and personalities while widening their worldviews via a 50-minute presentation.

Next week, Dixie Forum will team up with Dixie State University's Celebrity Concert Series to host the musical quintet Presidio Brass as they present "Sounds of the Cinema." This special forum will be held on Wednesday, Jan. 27, at noon in the Zion Room on the fifth floor of the Holland Centennial Commons on the DSU campus.