GESC Course Field Trips

We cover new (and old) ground!

Outdoor adventures and hands-on learning are common components in most of our geology and environmental sciences courses.

Our department is dedicated to giving our students the very best field-based education. Why such a focus on field study?

  • Every geoscientist must understand the context of their data…and the data comes from the field.
  • It develops a better understanding of 3-dimensional relationships found in nature.
  • Complex phenomena are easier to understand when observing them directly.
  • It’s fun!

We take every opportunity to get students out of the traditional classroom and into the field to experience geological and environmental science phenomena firsthand. Nearly every upper-level geology course has a field component where students learn to make direct observations, collect and record data to be used in course-related research projects. Many of the field trip destinations during our course field trips, our off-campus J Term field courses and our conference trips are truly spectacular, textbook examples of major geologic phenomena that are commonly on the “Life Lists” published by geologists.

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