2025 Themes

Boulder Shores, -Lake Erie, Huron, Ohio, USA | Photo by Leo Kenney

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Each ISCS SandFest is different.  The events vary based on the venue, the nature of the geology and sands that can be collected in the region, and of course, the interests and presentations offered by the participants. 

As of mid-May,  about 50 ISCS members have expressed that they are either likely or very likely to attend and several have offered presentations.  Based on the venue location on Lake Ontario in western New York and on the interests we have heard from participants, we have focused SandFest 2025 on three themes.

  • The Great Lakes are 5 of the largest 13 lakes in the world. Three of them are among the top 5 largest in the world.   We will visit multiple beaches along Lake Ontario and we expect participants from adjacent states to bring plenty of sand to share with others.  

  • The venue sits atop a drumlin, one of thousands in western New York State. and we will be able to investigate and sample its interior sediments.  We will visit as many glacial sand deposits as possible.  Some were left as deltas or bars by rivers that no longer exist, others are ancient lake sediments, and still others were deposited by the ice itself as the glaciers retreated. 

  • Several pre-registered for SandFest 2025 have indicated that they are teachers (or retired teachers) interested in the educational value of using sand in the classroom.  Whether at informal or formal events at all levels  (elementary, middle school, high school, or college) describing and studying sand has a place in science education.  In the coming months, we plan to engage with local educators who might want to help or learn from us, as we explore the possibilities.

Note: Having themes does not exclude other presentation topics and we expect to have time to be as diverse as possible with topics for our presentations and workshops. 

Please feel free to let us know what you would like to see at SandFest 2025.