Teaching & outreach
We’re available to teach classes or seminars, present to groups, or otherwise help folks learn, whether live or online. Travel reimbursement and/or honorariums are appreciated given the time involved.
Eric teaching 4th graders about floodplain ecosystems as part of the Missouri River Days program run by the excellent organization Missouri River Relief.
Photo credit: Harry Kratz.
Upcoming talk (October 10, 2026):
Natural history of the Boonslick and Missouri River Hills region
Come join us at the 2026 Chestnut Festival at the University of Missouri Horticulture and Agroforestry Research Farm in New Franklin, Missouri. This is a neat festival that’s well worth traveling to experience! We’ll be speaking at 11:30 am:
Exploring Deep Time in the Missouri River Hills
The landscape of the Missouri River Hills has been shaped by a complex bedrock history; reshaped by ice, wind, and water; and reshaped again by human management. Geologists Joanna & Eric Reuter of Ozark Outsider will draw on their backgrounds as Earth scientists, land managers, and educators to bring a deep-time perspective to the geological and human history that has led to today's landscape, and to consider how future choices could reshape it again.
Upcoming course (fall 2027):
Practical field geology of the Ozarks
We’re thrilled to announce that we’ll be offering a week-long field program next fall, in cooperation with Missouri S&T’s Ozark Research Field Station. Designed for non-geologists, this course is intended to provide a solid hands-on introduction to the geology of the Ozarks through a combination of lectures and field trips. More details and a link to the official program information will be posted when available.
Past Talks & Programs
Ongoing: We can also be found teaching fourth-grade programs for the Missouri River Days event hosted by Missouri River Relief.
Learning from Lidar: Exploring the Missouri River’s Relief (In person, Big Muddy Speaker Series, Columbia MO: YouTube recording)
From map to field: Resources and skills for on-the-ground interpretation of regional geology (In person, Chert Glades Master Naturalists, Joplin MO)
Weird watersheds and other topographic curiosities of the Ozarks (In person, Watershed Center, Springfield MO: YouTube version)
Steamboat landscape (In person, Harmonie Verein, Augusta, MO)
Geology for Ozark naturalists: (Online, KC-area Missouri Master Naturalists: YouTube recording)
Birds in big numbers (Online, Missouri River Bird Observatory: YouTube recording)
Why are caves where they are? (In person, Choteau Grotto of National Speleological Society)
Geological influences on the central Missouri landscape (In person, Missouri Master Naturalists)
iNaturalist as a tool to enhance understanding of Missouri's flora (In person, Hawthorn chapter, Missouri Native Plant Society)
Steamboat landscape (Online, Big Muddy Speaker Series: YouTube recording)
Introduction to bird song (In person, Daniel Boone Regional Library, Columbia, MO and Burroughs Audubon Society, Kansas City)