Going for the Cold: Geologists Take to the Glaciers for Lessons on Climate Change

First-year college students typically struggle to find not only their classrooms, but even the buildings themselves as they move from a simple high school to a sprawling college campus.

In Glacial Field Methods (Geology 574) there's no problem finding your classroom. Just look up (and up and up!). The struggle is getting to your classroom. It might be nearly 3,000 feet and a three-mile climb up a mountain. The lessons might happen at 8 a.m. or 9 p.m. at night. Glacial Field Methods has been taught in several different places over the last several years from Iceland to the Canadian Rockies and this year in Alaska.

But the lessons are also taught sporadically throughout each year's course. You might experience "drive-by geology" as an interesting formation is spotted along a highway. There are "geology stops" instead of photo stops which also provide brief respites during the rigorous climbs up the mountainsides. Informal lessons occur at picnic tables, lakesides, and even relaxing under a tree at the nightly campsite.

With such a diversity of "classrooms" and class times, you might expect a diversity of teaching methods, but Professor Thomas Lowell's style is actually quite simple.

"If I can teach you two skills, you'll be in good shape," Lowell told the class in his introductory lecture. "The first has nothing to do with the fancy toys. It's observational skills. The second skill is hypothesis testing."

"It's not very technical, but if we can do that, we've done a good job in glacial field methods."

Surprisingly, it doesn't take long for the students to get down to business and start solving the problems for themselves -- despite the distraction of the incredible scenery.

In small groups, they head out, hold their own individual debates, and begin to sort out the geological processes based on their own observations.

"There's no textbook out here," noted Amy Cochran, a sophomore in the McMicken College of Arts and Sciences. "It's pretty amazing. It's all hands-on, and you're actually seeing what you're learning about, and the instructors are fabulous."

Professor Lowell is assisted this year by fellow UC geologist Warren Huff. Lectures are limited to a few descriptions of maps, available data and questions...lots of open-ended questions and one "problem du jour."

Out in the field, mini-lectures or geology stops are peppered with controversy as more experienced graduate students challenge Professor Lowell with their own theories and explanations for what the glaciers have done to the surrounding landscapes.

"I'm the authority figure here!" he quips. "Go ahead," he then encourages. "Question the authority figure."

Lowell doesn't win every scientific debate, but he does win the real battle: he gets his students questioning everything they see and struggling just as hard to make sense of it as they struggled climbing up the rugged hillsides.

Click here for background on this expedition.