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Summer Field Camp
Field experience is a vital part of the Geology Major. For many geologists
— from the beginning student to the gray-haired professional —
seeing rocks “on outcrop” in the great outdoors is what makes
geology fun (and so d*** interesting). Field camp provides Geology Majors
and Minors the opportunity to learn about and experience geology first
hand: outdoors and on the outcrop. Students apply for, and take a summer
field camp hosted by another college, university, or research institute.
Field camps last between 3 and 8 weeks and count for a variable number
of credit. They typically cost between $1,000 and $3,000 — the Department
of Geology provides financial support for every Major to attend the camp
of their choice.
Since 2000, Geology Majors have attended summer field camp in a variety
of locations including northern Italy, Hawaii, Utah, the Bahamas, Idaho,
Montana, Wyoming, Nevada, California, and Alaska.
Options for field camp — choosing the camp that’s
right for you
Students may select a field camp in the United States or abroad, but it
must be approved by the Geology Department.
One option is to attend a 6- to 8-week summer field camp run by a Geology
Department who may own property and/or have access to a field station;
these are typically in the western states. This extended field camp can
serve as a Geology Major’s capstone experience. These camps emphasize
modern field techniques, geological mapping, and small group and individual
projects involving mineral, rock, and fossil identification, sedimentology,
stratigraphy, structural geology, tectonics, geomorphology, and petrology.
In recent years, for example, students have chosen the summer field camp
run by Indiana University whose
field station is located in the foothills of the Tobacco Root Mountains
in Montana. Geology Majors have also chosen other, excellent, summer field
camps that, rather than operate out of a main field station, travel to
several “base camps” and do field work in a variety of places.
The University of Nevada
at Reno runs a course that traverses the Basin and Range of Nevada,
and the terranes of California, for example. Most summer field camps have
websites and the Department often has a descriptive brochure. Many of
these brochures are posted on the Undergraduate Bulletin Board.
Students may also choose a more specialized camp. Geology Majors have
attended Miami
University’s summer course in the Bahamas, Carbonate Depositional
Systems, and courses offered by the Center
for the Study of Active Volcanoes at the University of Hawaii on
volcanic hazards and prediction. These more specialized courses typically
are 2- to 3-weeks long and may be less expensive than the more comprehensive
camps run out west.
In addition, many permanent research stations and institutes offer summer
programs. These are typically programs that students must apply for, and
if accepted, may receive fellowships. Summer research experience at laboratories
in oceanography, geophysics, planetary geology, or marine biology does
satisfy the field camp requirement. Students are encouraged to apply for
fellowship programs at NASA, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution,
the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the Carnegie Institute of Washington and
others. In summer 2003, two Geology Majors received fellowships from the
National Science Foundation-funded Research Experience for Undergraduates
to spend 6 weeks doing research on the Matanuska Glacier in Alaska.
A third option is to design and carry out a customized summer field camp.
For example, one recent Geology Major attended a 10-day field trip to
the Owens Valley in southern California to study neotectonics, brought
back samples to the Department, and worked on them for a senior research
project. Like all summer field camp experiences, individual programs must
be approved in advance by the Department.
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Cook
Scholarships to support field camp
The Department provides financial support for Geology Majors to attend
summer field camp from its Cook Scholarship fund. In general, the Department
will support about one-third of the cost of summer field camp. This
support is for expenses directly related to field camp, such as tuitions
and fees, and transportation. Personal expenses, such as passports,
camping equipment, cameras, GPS units, and the like, are not covered.
Geology Majors may receive only one Cook Scholarship Award for field
camp.
Course registration and credits
Students receive academic credit for field camp by registering for 15-GEOL-500
Field Camp. GEOLOGY 500 is a variable credit course that may be taken
more than once, for a maximum of 20 credits. Students who sign up for
summer field camp through another college or university will get a specific
number of credits transferred to the McMicken College of A&S upon
successful completion of their course. It is up to individual students
to arrange with the Registrar’s Office their paperwork, tuition
payments, course fees, and credit transfers.
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