December Presentation: "The Silver Mines of Lavrion, from Ancient Greece to Modern Times, Part 2" by Fred Paraskevoudakis

by Laura Dwyer, MSDC Member

In Part 1 of his presentation in October, Fred explained the plate tectonics of Greece and its surrounding islands and the history of Lavrion's extraordinary silver mines starting from 800 BCE. He showed several extraordinary videos of the actual mine sites, explained how and where they processed the ore and how the Athenians used the silver bonanza to militarily save their nation. Fred's presentation included pictures of some of the many brilliant minerals that geologists and collectors have retrieved from the Lavrion region's mines. 

Part 2 will focus more on examples of the diversity of the astonishing Lavrion mines' mineral species found displayed throughout the world. 

Speaker Bio

Our presenter for December, Fred Paraskevoudakis (Paras), is a professor at Baltimore City Community College where he has taught mostly microbiology, as well as biotechnology and environmental science since 1992. His graduate education includes two MS degrees and PhD work in science education.

His interests in natural history stem from his childhood in the tropics where he collected butterflies and shells, hobbies that he continues to enjoy today with his own large scientific collections. These interests have been pursued through extensive travels on all continents of the world.

Fred is the president of the Maryland Entomological Society and a longtime member of the Natural History Society of Maryland where he is the curator of the shell collection. Although he had a rudimentary interest in fossils and minerals growing up, he became very active in these areas in the last 10 years.