January Intersession Geology Field Trips

The Department of Geological, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences invites junior- and senior-level geology majors and minors to participate in multi-week field trips that run in January of odd-numbered years. The trips aim to provide students with rare field experience coupled with research experience. All trips emphasize learning geology in the field and practicing basic field methods. Most trips include some camping, hiking, and warm weather. Past trips have occurred in Trinidad and Tobago, Cyprus, Chile, and the South Island of New Zealand. See the geology photo gallery for highlights.

Students prepare for the trips by participating in the Geology Seminar (GSCI 391) in the fall, which includes attending weekly meetings and completing a research presentation and term paper on a topic relevant to the field trip. The term paper becomes part of a field guide issued to all participants of the field trip.

While in the field, students are responsible for designing a small-scale research project, usually with the aid of a faculty member, that can be carried out during the spring semester following the field trip. Students present the results of their research in the spring Geology Seminar.

Although the field trips are partly subsidized by the Department of Geological, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences, students bear some of the cost of travel.

The video below is from the January 2017 intersession field trip to New Zealand.