Matt Kuchta

@mkuchta.bsky.social

108 Followers 80 Following

Professor of Geology at UW Stout. Views I write are my own, not my institution’s. He/him/his. Making science education easier and more accessible one demonstration at a time. Frangit Patriarchia

Our ginger cat, sound asleep and hugging a stuffed animal.
A photo of a rock outcrop on the south shore of Lake Superior and a flashlight sitting near a bowling ball-sized boulder.
A welcome sign in Houghton that states, “you are now breathing the purest most vitalizing air on earth.” The AQI was over 700 when I took this photo. The most severe category starts when the AQI is over 300.
Thick haze of smoke obscuring much of Houghton, Michigan
The intersection of 45 degrees north latitude and 90 degrees west longitude. The middle of the northwest hemisphere.
A banner advertising a company named “Kafka Granite.”
In the path of destruction: eyewitness accounts of Mt St Helens. A book by Richard Waitt.
A USGS photograph showing the edge of St Helen’s blast zone and an arrow pointing to a little speck of a wrecked car just 800 yards from standing, unscorched trees.
A 3d contour map made of stacked acrylic sheets
Selfie of me with the styrofoam humerus. I’m 6 feet tall and standing on the ground, but the humerus is nearly a foot taller than me.
A life size painted styrofoam profile of the forelimb and skull of Brachiosaurus. The humerus stretches up to the second floor landing of the nearby stairway.
Photo of me wearing a hi-vis yellow vest, standing in a field and ready to do some science.
Phot showing an exposure of soil consisting mostly of meter-sized boulders.
Football card where the players name is Louis Lipps
A cartoon I drew many years ago that reads: LOOK, THE TULIPS ARE ALREADY BLOOMING. IT'S SAD TO THINK THEY WON'T SURVIVE THIS EARLY IN THE SPRING ACTUALLY, I SEE IT AS HOPE - THE BEAUTY OF THESE FLOWERS MAY BE TRANSIENT... ...BUT IT CAN TAKE ROOT ANYWHERE - EVEN IF IT ONLY REMINDS US THAT SUFFERING IS ALSO TEMPORARY... AND THAT MAKES ME HAPPY.
A cartoon of a utahraptor playing a ukulele while riding a unicycle.
A sticker with text over an image of a pride flag that reads “This machine yeets fascists.”
Infrared image of geysers and hot springs near old faithful.
A photo of my sketchbook with drawings of some fractional crystallization of a melt and various ways of drawing fractured rock.
Red and green aurora visible over Tennyson Bay with a streaking meteor on the lower right.
Text reads “it’s loess all the way down” superimposed on a Stack of turtles.
Contour map of the big island of Hawaii made with 12 stacked sheets of 8x10, 0.1 inch thick lexan sheets. Island is oriented north to south so that Hualalai is closest and Kilauea is furthest from viewer.
Picture of the darkening sky, still too bright to see aurora
Metallic bonding illustration with one atom making a classic “rock n roll” salute. Label below says “heavy metal bond”
Biohazard bag containing a valentine card
Screenshot of a post describing the pterosaur discovered on the isle of Skye as a dinosaur. AI generated image shows a rocky valley with a two-tailed pterosaur-like creature flying through the air
Children’s book text reads: “Removing trees is an important part of helping a forest stay healthy.” The picture shows a clear-cut area with logging machinery clearing out the trees.
The opening text to the text-based adventure game, Zork
A very simple drawing of a dinosaur, seemingly drawn in haste with a dull pencil
Montage of several photos stitched together to create a wider angle view of Skara Brae in Scotland
A cladogram of all major vertebrate groups, focused on Dinosauria. The finished diagram nearly covers my dining room table.
Our ginger cat “B-Dubbs” climbing a tree strung with lights. Cat is on a harness and leash, obviously.
A whiteboard sketch showing the development of karst towers.
The notch trail at badlands NP with heavy smoke in the air
A Tyrannosaurus and a gem in front of a volcano.
Acrylic box with glass beads. Fluorescent dye marks the water table. Infiltration is indicated by the dark purple dye percolating down. Variation in soil texture show up as changes in the plume size and direction of movement.