Nick Zentner is an American academic who works as a geology professor at

Central Washington University Central Washington University (CWU) is a public university in Ellensburg, Washington. Founded in 1891, the university consists of four divisions: the President's Division, Business and Financial Affairs, Operations, and Academic and Student Life ...

Ellensburg, Washington Ellensburg is a city in and the county seat of Kittitas County, Washington, United States. It is located just east of the Cascade Range near the junction of Interstate 90 and Interstate 82 Interstate 82 (I-82) is an Interstate Highway in th ...

. Outside of his work with the university, he is known for his online videos covering the geology of the

Northwestern United States The Northwestern United States, also known as the American Northwest or simply the Northwest, is an informal geographic region of the United States. The region consistently includes the states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. ...

and his series ''Nick on the Rocks''.

Early life and education

Zentner was born on July 20, 1962 in the state of

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. He is the maternal grandson of inaugural

Chicago Cardinals The professional American football team now known as the Arizona Cardinals previously played in Chicago, Illinois, as the Chicago Cardinals from 1898 to 1959 before relocating to St. Louis, Missouri, for the 1960 through 1987 seasons. Roots ca ...

guard

Clyde Zoia Clyde John Zoia (May 16, 1896 – April 3, 1955) was an American football guard who played four seasons with the Chicago Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at the University of Notre Dame and attended Woods ...

. Inspired during a 1983 trip to the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

on break from college, Zentner decided to study geology. Zentner earned his

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

from the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

in 1986 and a

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

from

Idaho State University , mottoeng = "The truth will set you free" , established = , former_names = Academy of Idaho(1901–1915)Idaho Technical Institute(1915–1927)University of Idaho—Southern Branch(1927–1947)Idaho State ...

in 1989.

Career

From 1989 to 1992 Zentner taught geology at the

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio. The university was founded in 1809, making it the second-oldest university in Ohio (behind Ohio University, founded in 1804) and the 10 ...

Oxford, Ohio Oxford is a city in Butler County, Ohio, United States. The population was 23,035 at the 2020 census. A college town, Oxford was founded as a home for Miami University and lies in the southwestern portion of the state approximately northwest ...

. After that, he took on his current position teaching geology at

. He is known for his work in making online videos and public lectures covering the geology of the

. Starting in the mid-2000s, he gave lectures to the public about local geology topics, such as one on the

Columbia River Basalt Group The Columbia River Basalt Group is the youngest, smallest and one of the best-preserved continental flood basalt province on Earth, covering over mainly eastern Oregon and Washington, western Idaho, and part of northern Nevada. The basalt grou ...

. These led to the production of a series of shorts he made called ''Two Minute Geology''. He then produced the series ''Nick on the Rocks'' that is aired on

KCTS-TV KCTS-TV (channel 9) is a PBS member television station in Seattle, Washington, United States, owned by Cascade Public Media. Its studios are located at the northeast corner of Seattle Center adjacent to the Space Needle, and its transmitter is ...

to the

Seattle metropolitan area The Seattle metropolitan area is an urban conglomeration in the U.S. state of Washington that comprises Seattle, its surrounding satellites and suburbs. It contains the three most populous counties in the state—King, Snohomish, and Pierce� ...

. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

Zentner created

live streaming Livestreaming is streaming media simultaneously recorded and broadcast in real-time over the internet. It is often referred to simply as streaming. Non-live media such as video-on-demand, vlogs, and YouTube videos are technically streamed, but no ...

lectures on various geology topics in a series called ''Nick From Home''. In the ''Nick From Home'' series he focused on trying to provide an educational environment for children who might be out of school and to viewers from around the world.

Personal life

Zentner is a practicing Catholic and is married to a science teacher at

Ellensburg High School Ellensburg High School is a secondary school in Ellensburg, Washington, operated by the Ellensburg School District. Academics Qualified 11th and 12th grade students may take classes at Central Washington University and earn both high school and c ...

. They have three sons.

Honors and awards

In 2015, he won the James Shea Award presented by the

National Association of Geoscience Teachers The National Association of Geoscience Teachers (NAGT) is a North American organization that seeks to foster improvement in the teaching of the earth sciences at all levels of formal and informal instruction, to emphasize the cultural significance ...

for his work in presenting the geology of the Pacific Northwest to a broad audience. Two episodes of ''Nick on the Rocks'', "Teanaway Tropics" and "Saddle Mountains Buried in Ash", were granted

Northwest Emmy Awards The Northwest Emmy Awards are a division of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. The Seattle, Washington, division was founded in 1963. In addition to granting the Northwest Emmy Awards, this division awards scholarships, honors ...

by the

National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) is an American professional service organization founded in 1955 for "the advancement of the arts and sciences of television and the promotion of creative leadership for artistic, edu ...

on June 5, 2021.

Publications

* ''Extension and Subsidence of the Eastern Snake River Plain, Idaho'' (2002).

References

External links

on the Rocks'' at KTCS9Nick Zentner Tedx Talk "Sharing Geology"Nick Zentner
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zentner, Nick Living people American geologists 20th-century American geologists 21st-century American geologists Central Washington University faculty University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni Idaho State University alumni Educational and science YouTubers American Roman Catholics People from Ellensburg, Washington PBS people 1962 births