A brief history of SHEAR

In the early 1990’s, Susan Sorrells of Shoshone Development, Inc., generously agreed to let Terry Pavlis and Laura Serpa use some unoccupied buildings in Shoshone as a field station. The buildings formerly housed the labs of Pfizer, Inc., which was exploiting industrial talc deposits in the region. In 1999 Terry, Laura, Marli Miller, and Darrel Cowan along with Susan Sorrells formed a California non-profit corporation with the title "Shoshone Education and Research Center" or "SHEAR center" with the primary objective of providing low-cost housing for educational groups and researchers traveling to the Death Valley area. In 2000 SHEAR was recognized as non-profit, 501(c)(3) charitable organization.   Susan leased the buildings to SHEAR at no cost. Since the early 1990’s, our group, with the generous help of many others, has continually made improvements and expanded the capacity.  The present board of directors consists of Darrel Cowan (President), Marli Miller (Vice-president), Terry Pavlis (Secy/Treas), Laura Serpa,  Susan Sorrells, Monica Argandona, and John Caskey. 

Institutions & organizations that have recently used SHEAR

Augustana College

California State University Bakersfield

Caltech

California State University Long Beach

California Wilderness Coalition

Carleton College

Colorado College

DePauw University

Geologic Mapping Foundation

Lawrence Academy

McGill University

Mt. San Antonio College, Pomona, CA

Northern Virginia Community College—Professor Callan Bentley wrote in March 2020, "SHEAR provided a funky, safe place to stay for our academic group when investigating the geology of the Death Valley region. Full of character and utterly informal, SHEAR is steeped in the history of decades of geologists learning about the rocks, structures, and landscapes of the western Basin and Range. My students loved it, and I'd have my class stay here again in a heartbeat."

Pasadena City College

Piedmont Virginia Community College

Rites of Passage

Salisbury University

Slippery Rock State University, PA

Sonoma State University

South Dakota School of Mines

SUNY Oneonta

Tulane University

University of California Berkeley

University of California Riverside

University of California Santa Cruz

University of Hawaii

University of Memphis

University of Oregon

University of Ottawa

University of St. Thomas

University of South Florida

University of Texas El Paso

University of Washington

University of Wisconsin River Falls

Western Washington University

Wheaton College

Rates in 2023

Rates as of April 2023 are $12.50 per person per night for a maximum of $125/night for main buildings and bunkhouses. The trailer is $100/night and is reserved for faculty or graduate-student researchers only. Please be aware that renters also need to pay a 12% Inyo County occupancy tax. In addition, we ask that each person using the facilities read and sign a release and assumption of risk form, which we will e-mail to reserved groups before arrival.

Reservations 

To reserve SHEAR, please contact Darrel Cowan in the Department of Earth & Space Sciences, University of Washington: darrel@uw.edu

Please indicate your organization, the requested dates, and the number of students, faculty, and TA's. If you are a graduate student or individual researcher, please provide the same information. We will contact you regarding availability and provide more information about the facility and billing before your arrival.

We recommend making reservations several months in advance of the busiest months: November through April.

Useful links 

http://shoshonevillage.com/

http://chinaranch.com

http://www.nps.gov/deva/index.htm