Alumni from our department frequently tell me that some of their best memories as geology majors are from the New Mexico Summer Field Camp. Although field camp has traditionally been a quintessential experience for majors and a key component in their development as geologists, the geological sciences are undergoing large curricular and cultural changes that influence the breadth of professional skills needed as well as the accessibility of pathways into the major. Consequently, within the Department of Geological Sciences we recently started discussing and evaluating the best way to accommodate our students’ needs and interests for a capstone experience while still maintaining the benefits and impact of our classic summer field camp experience.
Earth science is becoming an increasingly diverse field and we recognize the growing range of subdisciplines that attract our majors and lead them to pursue their professional goals. In response, and in an effort to improve the student experience, we are in the process of dividing our BS major into three distinct tracks: 1) geology, 2) geophysics, and 3) environmental geoscience. Students following the classic geology track will still need and benefit from classic field mapping experiences. In contrast, students in the geophysical track might gain more from experiences that enhance their computational abilities or expose them to methods in geophysics, while students interested in the environmental geoscience track would benefit from exposure to hydrologic skills or methods to quantify Earth surface processes as offered through geomorphology or sedimentology.
In tandem with this change, we also want to accommodate the growing diversity of students interested in the geological sciences and the challenges they face. Many of you may be aware of the work by one of our newer hires, Anita Marshall, who specializes in and is an advocate for, breaking down barriers that prevent people with disabilities, socioeconomic constraints, or family/personal situations from majoring in geological sciences. To that end, she developed an amazing, inclusive field experience referred to as GeoSPACE (GeoScientists Promoting Accessible Collaborative Education) with funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The program provides a two-week field experience in Arizona that uses methods pioneered by NASA for space exploration to connect students working in the field with students who participate online. GeoSPACE students have leveraged skills in remote sensing and field geophysics into fellowships, graduate school placement and internships. The hybrid format also gives our online geology majors the opportunity for experiential learning. This inclusive approach represents a template that we are using to promote more accessible field opportunities and capstone experiences for our majors.
With the goal of expanding opportunities and accessibility, we plan to reduce the credits required for the geological sciences capstone experience from the 6-credits that currently include the 4-weeks of field mapping in NM plus the 2-week national parks extension, to a minimum of 4 credits with flexibility in the topics of study. These credits could be acquired through participation in the 4-week NM Summer Field Camp or, alternatively, by taking two 2-credit modules such as GeoSPACE or new experiences we are working to create. Ideas for new modules focus on 1) hydrology, 2) Python programing, 3) field experiences in Death Valley, Arizona, the Bahamas or the Florida Keys, 4) analytical work potentially coordinated with one of these field experiences, 5) surficial geophysical field methods, and 6) coastal processes. The capstone experience could also include traditional summer internships. Although the classic NM field experience will still be an option, a 20-year golden era of field camp ended this summer when Joe Meert taught his last summer field camp (see story below).
We are excited about these developments to our program and the breadth of opportunities we will be offering our students. Our goal is to continue offering the NM and GeoSPACE field camps annually, along with two additional capstone experiences from a rotating menu of modules. These changes have the added benefit of reducing costs by eliminating the 2-week field camp extension, but there will be additional costs that are not supported by the university associated with spinning-up, running, and providing equipment for the new experiential modules. Along those lines, we have requested funds to help support this transition as our most pressing need for Gator Giving Day on February 20, 2025. So, please think of us if you would like to support our plans for revamping the capstone experience for our majors. We hope you are as excited as we are about these changes for our majors and their professional development. Please reach out to me if you have any feedback, suggestions, or comments on our plans that you would like to share (eemartin@ufl.edu).
Ellen E. Martin
Professor, Chair
Department of Geological Sciences