Haunted Hydrology (SPOOKY LAKES) with Geo Rutherford

Mudbank bones. River wrecks. Salty seas. Pink ponds. Poison dust devils. Steamy streams.. It’s Haunted Hydrology with your favorite Spooky Lakes ambassador, the artist and author Geo Rutherford who is widely known as Geodesaurus. Geo covers the dark history of The Great Lakes, a stump that controls the weather, the what and why of a good lagoon, the field excursions she’s been on for research, the lakes she wants to see the most, and how a drought can shiver your spine. It’s a Spooktober spectacular, folks. It’s Haunted Hydrology.

Listen via Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. Ad-free episodes available by subscribing to SiriusXM Podcasts+. Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus.

Visit Geo Rutherford’s website and follow her on TikTok and Instagram

Buy Geo’s Spooky Lakes Books including her new coloring book and 2026 calendar

Visit SpookyLakes.com to buy stickers, pins, prints and more designed by Geo 

A donation went to the Alliance for the Great Lakes

Ologies live show tickets for Monday Nov. 17 at the Bell House 


Links to things we discussed:

Great Job, Internet!: Count down to Halloween with a whole month of spooky lakes

This TikToker Is Highlighting the Spookiest Lakes in the World  

Bogs & Fens: What's the Difference, for Peat's Sake!?

Lake Tahoe’s Depth: A Global Comparison

The Salton Sea Authority

Salton Sea gets boost to tap vast lithium supplies 

What is the Salton Sea?

A Drying Salton Sea Pollutes Neighboring Communities

Harmful dust from drying lakes: Preserving Great Salt Lake (USA) water levels decreases ambient dust and racial disparities in population exposure

​​The Salton Sea is California’s most imperiled lake. Can a new conservancy turn back the tide?

'Unlucky' creatures that enter rare Red Sea brine pools are immediately stunned to death

The Jacuzzi of Despair Is a Deadly Lake Within the Gulf of Mexico

The Scientist and The Sacred | Boiling River Research Plumbs Remarkable Depths

Andrés Ruzo’s 2014 TED Talk: The boiling river of the Amazon

Lake Hillier: The Cat in the Hat Comes Back 

Western Australia’s Lake Hillier loses iconic pink colour, but there is strong hope for its recovery

Microbiome and metagenomic analysis of Lake Hillier Australia reveals pigment-rich polyextremophiles and wide-ranging metabolic adaptations

Kelimutu, The Volcano Whose Lake Waters Changes Color

Crater Lake will be closed to these recreational activities for years after this summer

The Old Man of Crater Lake

Here’s what we know about all of the remains found at Lake Mead

Lake Mead: Single dad, 42, whose remains were found in drought-stricken Lake Mead - 20 years after he vanished after going for midnight swim

St Thomas, Nevada

The sounds of cracking ice over the shallows of Lake Baikal [depth: 5,387 feet (1,642 meters)]

Harmful dust from drying lakes: Preserving Great Salt Lake (USA) water levels decreases ambient dust and racial disparities in population exposure


Other episodes you may enjoy:

Spooktober: Topics to Startle and Love

Maritime Archaeology (SHIPWRECKS)

Speleology (CAVES)

Oceanology (OCEANS)

Disasterology (DISASTERS)

Indigenous Pedology (SOIL SCIENCE)

Environmental Microbiology (TESTING WASTEWATER FOR DISEASES)

Ichthyology (FISHES)

Salugenology (WHY HUMANS REQUIRE HOBBIES)

Ethnoecology (NATIVE PLANTS)


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Editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions and Jake Chaffee

Managing Director: Susan Hale

Scheduling Producer: Noel Dilworth 

Transcripts by Aveline Malek

Website by Kelly R. Dwyer

Theme song by Nick Thorburn

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Serpopsychology (WHAT’S CREEPY?) with Dr. Frank McAndrew