Nick has been with Central Washington University (Ellensburg) Geology since 1992. He teaches a popular “GEOL 101 – Geology of Washington” course to CWU students every Fall Quarter and Winter Quarter – and his course is open to townspeople for free! He also teaches “GEOL 351 – Pacific Northwest Geology” in spring. For all of Nick’s outreach efforts, please visit his website: nickzentner.com.
In 2015, Nick received the prestigious James Shea Award, a national award recognizing exceptional delivery of Earth Science content to the general public. Past Shea Award recipients include John McPhee, Jack Horner, Robert Ballard, and Stephen Jay Gould. Nicks audio and video podcasts are some of the most followed in the geological field. Nick’s wife, Liz Zentner, teaches science at Ellensburg High School. The Zentners have grown three boys – Max, Sam, and Jack.
Nick presented our highest attended event in June 2019. Approximately 350 persons attended his talk entitled “Nick on the Rocks—Videos of geologic topics” at Chimacum High School. (Updated Oct. 2021)