UNM Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences wraps up three-week geology capstone course
July 16, 2023
Field Camp is an immersive capstone course for geology majors in the Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences, and as 2023 student Ben Thorp says, “it rocks!” During this three-week course, students apply classroom knowledge in New Mexico’s spectacular field sites, gaining hands-on experience in mapping and independent study.
Field camp is designed to provide an in-depth, hands-on experience for geology students. As Karl Karlstorm, distinguished professor in the Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences, puts it, “Field Camp is an immersive geology capstone course that is essential in shaping geologists. All our alums and almost every geologist looks back on their field camp experience and says, ‘it was rough, and it was tough, but I survived, made great friends, and synthesized all the classwork.’”
Students are challenged to work in unfamiliar environments and a variety of weather conditions. They collaborate in small groups to survey the area and create detailed, colored maps. “In my opinion, the capstone has to involve some camping and expedition-style geology,” said Karlstrom. While this course can be physically challenging due to extensive hiking and camping, it also offers rewarding experiences. “This is a physically rigorous course as there is a significant amount of hiking and carrying supplies around the area to locate and measure the contacts between different rock layers,” added Ben Thorp.
Read more in the UNM Newsroom
