Sedimentary Rock Enthusiast Tired of Being the 'Boring One' at Geology Mixers

Dr. Patricia Bedding, a sedimentary petrologist specializing in fine-grained clastic deposits, has publicly expressed frustration at being consistently marginalized at geology department social events in favor of colleagues who study 'flashier' rock types. 'Every mixer is the same,' Dr. Bedding told reporters from the corner of the refreshment table, where she stood alone holding a paper plate of cheese cubes. 'The volcanologists walk in and everyone gathers around to hear about lava. The metamorphic people start talking about garnet-grade boundaries and subduction zones and people lose their minds. I mention mudstone and everyone suddenly needs to refill their drink.' Dr. Bedding, who has published thirty-seven peer-reviewed papers on Devonian shale sequences, says the bias against sedimentary rocks extends beyond social settings into the broader culture of geology. 'Nobody names their band after shale,' she said. 'Nobody gets a tattoo of sandstone. My colleagues study volcanoes and get invited on television. I study the quiet accumulation of clay particles over millions of years and get invited to proofread grant proposals.' Dr. Bedding's frustration peaked at a recent departmental holiday party where a volcanologist's story about nearly falling into a fumarole received a standing ovation. 'I once spent six months mapping a turbidite sequence that resolved a forty-year debate about Appalachian basin paleogeography,' she said. 'I brought it up at the party and a graduate student asked me if turbidite was a type of yogurt.' Dr. Bedding has founded a support group called Sedimentary Lives Matter, which meets monthly. Current membership stands at four, including Dr. Bedding. 'We're small but dedicated,' she said. 'Like a well-sorted siltstone.'