top of page

Hover over buttons to get to the sub-pages

MMS Meetings and Lectures

The Next Few MMS General Meetings:

(All regular club meetings are held on the second Monday of the month - All are welcome to attend to see what the club is about.)

   Nov 11th - MMS Auction night at Cranbrook

   Dec 9th - Club Meeting Via Zoom on Michigan Greenstones

   Meeting Location:

Cranbrook Institute of Science

39221 Woodward Ave,

Bloomfield Hills, MI

 

Event(s) begin promptly at 7:30 p.m. Doors open at 7:00 p.m.

What do We Meet and Discuss?

Evolution &

Fossils

Geo-Earth Sciences

Discoveries & Knowledge

Cosmic Events

Science &

Research

Locations &

Cultures

Elements & Physics

Chemistry & Reactions

Collecting &

Prospecting

Icons by FreePNG.com

General Calendar of Events

All club meetings are held at Cranbrook Institute of Science except January, July, August, and October.

 

Doors Open at 7 pm with Program starting at 7:30 pm

General Club Itinerary:

 

January ......................................... Banquet Night (TBD)

2nd Monday of February ............... Club Meeting

2nd Monday of March ................... Club Meeting

2nd Monday of April ...................... Club Meeting

2nd Monday of May ...................... Club Meeting

2nd Monday of June ..................... Club Meeting

3rd Weekend of July ..................... Annual Picnic (TBD)

Summer Field Trips ...................... TBD

Month of August ............................ No Meeting

2nd Monday of September ........... Club Meeting (Cranbrook Library)

2nd Weekend of October............... Annual Show (Macomb Expo)

2nd Monday of November ............ Annual Auction

2nd Monday of December ............ Club Meeting

Past Meetings Log:

September 2024 Club Meeting: Monday the 9th -

Meeting at Cranbrook with Brad Zylman on Glacier National Park in Montana.

 

June 2024 Club Meeting: Monday the 10th -

Meeting at Cranbrook with Dr. Sarah Brownlee on color effects in gemstones.

 

May 2024 Club Meeting: Monday the 13th -

Natalie Sowinski from the Miner's Den came and enlightened us on Lab vs. Real Diamonds and the jewelry industry trends.

April 2024 Club Meeting: Monday the 22nd (Delayed because of the Eclipse) -

We met over Zoom with Kent Ratajeski, curator and director of the Buce Dice Museum in Grand Rapids, to visit the museum virtually.

March 2024: Annual Swap and Social Night at Cranbrook.

February 2024 Club Meeting: Monday the 12th -

Zoom Meeting with Nathalie Brandes on "Mining throughout the Ages".

January 2024 Club Banquet: Saturday the 13th

Our Annual Club Banquet at the Management Education Center

 

December 2023 Club Meeting: Monday the 11th

Larry Atkins spoke to use on the field collecting of meteorites.

 

November 2023 Club Meeting: Monday the 13th

Our Annual Auction Night at Cranbrook

October 2023 MMS Show: October 13th, 14th & 15th

Our Annual Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show at the Macomb Expo Center.

September 2023 Club Meeting: Monday the 11th

David K. Joyce spoke to us about Morrocan mineral collecting in a hybrid meeting in the Cranbrook Library.

August 2023: Summer Recess

 

July 2023: Summer Picnic

June Club Meeting: Monday, June 12th

Club members Todd Wethy and Patti Graves-Wesolosky entertained us on their exploits in Antarctica.

May Club Meeting: Monday, May 8th

Richard Grinstein spoke on Jewelry and Gemstone Art History and Style.

 

April 2023 Club Meeting: Monday the 10th

Radioactive minerals and how to collect them by Rick Strapple.

March 2023  Club Meeting: Monday the 13th

Club Swap & Social Meeting

February 2023 Club Meeting: Monday the 13th

Western Michigan Univerity Professor Tom Howe gave a personal talk on the Minerals and Geology of Tasmania.

January 2023 Club Meeting: Saturday the 14th

Annual Banquet where Ph.D. Fisher from the University of Michigan gave a presentation on his lifelong research on Mammoths and Mastodons.

December 2022 Club Meeting: Monday the 12th

A Zoom hybrid meeting on the Matilda & Karl Pfeiffer Museum. We were shown wonderful Arkansas minerals and native artifacts.

November 2022: Annual Auction at Cranbrook

October 2022: Annual MMS 77th Gem, Mineral & Fossil Show

September 2022: Ph.D. Ralph Conti spoke on Rare Elements and how they are formed and came to Earth from the stars.

August 2022: Summer Recess

 

July 2022: Summer Recess

June Club Meeting: Monday June 13th 2022

A hybrid presentation from Ph.D John Rakovan on Crystal Forms and calculating Miller indices.

May Club Meeting: Monday May 9th 2022

A pre-recorded hybrid (online and in-person) presentation on Pegmatites by Tom Campbell

April Club Meeting: Monday April 11th 2022

A hybrid Zoom and in person meeting with Ph.D. Robert Hazen to speak on Mineral Evolution, classification and visualization with cutting edge science.

March Club Night: Monday March 14th, 2022 - Annual Swap meet at Cranbrook

February Club Meeting: Monday February 14th 2022

Zoom Meeting with the MSU Planetarium in East Lansing Michigan. A Science museum that features all the Meteorites that have hit Michigan!

 

January Club Meeting: Monday 14th, 2022 

We met with Ph.D. Chris Stephano to learn about the unique Minerals of Maybee Michigan.

 

December 13th Club Meeting 2021

A wonderful presentation by Ph.D. Andrew Gangidine on how we might find traces of life on Mars.

November Club Meeting 2021: The annual MMS Auction!

 

September Club Meeting: Monday, September 13th, 2021

         Peter Russell of the University of Waterloo spoke on Mastodon and Mammoth Fossil finds.

 

August 2021: Summer Recess

 

July 2021: Summer Recess

June Meeting: Monday, June 8th, 2021

It was an honor to have a Ph.D. Jaszczak spoke to us about the discovery and his hand in identifying the new mineral Merelaniite.

May Club Meeting 2021: Cancelled due to the Pandemic

April Club Night 2021:  

Brad Zylman on Color in Gemstones - The Conundrum of Corundum! The presentation is on the member's only page.

March Club Night 2021

"Paleo Joe" to speak on Wyoming fossil collecting via Zoom. Meeting at 7:00 pm

February Club Night 2021:  Fabian Wildfang presents his amazing collection via Zoom. This meeting is planned to start at 12:30 pm.

January: Meeting Cancelled.

 

December Club Meeting 2020

A fine presentation by Elijah Cornish on his mineral collecting.

November Club Meeting 2020

Bob Ruby Spoke on his personal collection, collection documentation, and mining paraphernalia.

October Club Meeting: Monday, October 13th, 2020

VP Brad Zylman to present Mineral Habits - A Common Language. This was an online meeting and the presentation is stored on the Members only page.

September Club Meeting: Monday, September 14th, 2020

Ph.D.Ralph Conti spoke on Fossil cleaning and liberation in an online presentation. Thanks, Ralph!

 

August: Summer Recess

 

July: Summer Recess

June Meeting: Monday, June 8th, 2020

Presentation on the Dana 8th edition classification of Minerals and the numbering system behind the internationally used system.

May Club Meeting: Cancelled due to the Pandemic

 

April Club Meeting: Cancelled due to pandemic

March Club Meeting: Monday, March 9th, 2020

MMS Swap & Social Night - Great food, great conversation, and lots of eye candy! Bring your gems, minerals, and fossils to sell or trade.

February Club Meeting: Monday, Feb. 10th, 2020

Speaker John Yellich spoke on the historic lake water levels and gave us a lot to think about how we are all interconnected.

January: Our Club Annual Banquet - January 25, 2020

Our Annual Banquet Night for our Club Members. 4 Billion Years of Great Lakes Geology.

December Meeting: December 9, 2019, THE AUCTION!!!!

Come prepared for an entertaining night of collaboration and bidding upon some fabulous auction items!

November Meeting: THE AUCTION was canceled due to the weather.

September Club Meeting: Sept. 10th, 2019

Club member Ph.D. Ralph Conti Spoke on the Optical effects of minerals and why some minerals look the way they do.

 

August: No Meeting

 

July Club Event: Monday, July 22, 2019

The Annual Picnic at MarshBank Park.

June Meeting: June 10th, 2019

Dr. Michael Cherney came and spoke on the new University of Michigan Natural History Museum and the Ice Age extinctions of Mammoths and Mastodons.

 

May Meeting: May 13th, 2019 

Please come for an interesting night where we will be discussing Michigan's energy future from coal to fossil fuels and current plans for a greener state with special guest Robert Elliot.

 

April Meeting: April 8th, 2019

We hosted Steve Lehto who will be enlightening us on the life of Douglas Houghton. Look up his book Michigan's Columbus...

March Meeting: March 11, 2019

MMS Swap & Social Night - Books, Shells, Coins, Minerals, Fossils galore!

 

February Meeting: February 11, 2019

We will be hosting Ph.D. Christine Clark as she speaks on February 11th to combine the understanding of the tourmaline-mineral group with the petrology of the environments in which these minerals form.

 

January Meeting: Banquet Night

Our Annual Club Banquet Night - We learned about Gold Mining and a Gold/Zinc mine opening in Michigan.

 

December Club Meeting: Monday, December 10th, 2018

Matthew Shrenk from MSU will be speaking on mineral catalyzed reactions and microbial clues to the early evolution of life.

 

November Meeting: November 12, 2018, THE AUCTION!!!!

Come prepared for an entertaining night of collaboration and bidding upon some fabulous auction items!! We will have the BEST specimens available to our membership to be auctioned off. You will not believe the specimens which could go at a fraction of their worth.

 

September Club Meeting: Sept. 10th, 2018

Club member Rick Strapple will be speaking on the 7 known groups of Silicate Minerals. It was an excellent presentation!

 

August: No Meeting

 

July Club Event: Monday, July 22, 2018

The Annual Picnic at Drayton Plains.

 

June Meeting: Monday, June 11th, 2018

Club Vice President Brad Zylman spoke on how to make the leap to a digital archive of your collection. He presented several examples of software and shared ideas on affordable ways to document your collection for generations to come.

 

May Club Meeting: Monday, May 14th, 2018

Explore our current understanding of the origin of the solar system and the remarkable new evidence for conditions on the early Earth with Cranbrook's Science Museum Curator - John Zawiskie

 

April Club Meeting: Monday, April 9th, 2018

Come and listen to Richard Fox discuss Viking Sunstone and Optical Calcite.

 

March Club Meeting: Monday, March 12, 2018

MMS Swap & Social Night - Great food, great conversation, and lots of eye candy! Bring your gems, minerals, and fossils to sell or trade. Everyone is welcome!

 

February Club Meeting: February 12th, 2018

We hosted Ralph S. Conti, Ph.D. Physics, as he presented his collection of radioactive minerals with an emphasis on those collected by his family from the Bancroft, Ontario area. The talk covered the basics of radioactivity, followed by a description of collecting in the Bancroft area from 1958-1975.

 

January: Our Club Annual Banquet - January 13, 2018

Our Annual Banquet Night for our Club Members.

bottom of page