Details

What can I expect as a student Participant in GeoSPACE?

Summer 2024 Field Course will run (tentative dates) May 26 - June 8. 

The GeoSPACE program is a planetary geology and volcanology field course. You don't need prior experience in any of these areas, but you do need a basic foundation in geoscience. This field course is multi-modal – enabling active engagement by students, TAs and faculty in the field and virtually through synchronous and asynchronous communication, data collection and analysis. That means you can participate in the field or from home. To prepare everyone for the field course, we will have 3 pre-trip meetings, held virtually, in March, April and May leading up to the field course. Food, lodging and travel for the field course are all provided, along with a $1000 stipend to offset personal expenses (tuition, field gear, childcare, whatever you need to participate)*.

*UF STUDENTS: New rules from UF prohibit us from covering the expenses of some UF student employees with our grant funding. If you currently work for UF in any capacity, or have worked for them in the past year, this may apply to you. Please contact Kristin Nichola in the geology office so she can determine your eligibility for support. 

We will be staying in hotels that have accessible rooms. All field sites have been carefully selected and evaluated for accessibility, terrain, facilities, etc. Some sites are well-developed, with paved trails, restrooms and visitor centers. Others are remote - accessible by vehicles (including low-riding wheelchair vans), but undeveloped beyond dirt roads. These sites have limited accessibility and we will use our technology tools and teamwork to enhance our access to these locations. 

Our virtual participants will work very closely with students and faculty using a mix of real-time (synchronous) communication and independent (asynchronous) work on unique data sets. Virtual participants are just as much a part of the collaborative team as our in-person participants. We have faculty and staff working exclusively with our virtual students to facilitate learning activities. During the field course, we do our best to schedule any synchronous participation at reasonable hours considering time-zones. Exact meeting times and modes may change due to unforeseen circumstances in the field, but we do our best to stay on schedule. Virtual students don't have to be online all day; flexibility is the whole point of virtual participation, but virtual students will need to devote significant time each day to the course. Students need to be ok with being on video and in photos! Keeping our virtual students engaged in what we are doing in the field requires frequently taking and sharing photos, livestreaming and the use of Zoom. And for virtual students, you don't need your camera on all the time, but it's hard to build community with a black box.

Want to learn more about the philosophy behind GeoSPACE and get an idea of what our course looks like in action? Check out this article and video below: https://explore.research.ufl.edu/field-tested.html.

Learning Objectives for the Field Course

• Practice rock and landscape description and interpretation in volcanic and sedimentary landscapes; and apply those skills to interpret features on Earth and other places in the solar system. 

• Apply tools and techniques for digital mapping, including digital stratigraphic sections, high precision GPS, and photogrammetry. 

• Learn to access and interpret remote sensing data, and how to integrate satellite data into field studies. 

• Understand the human and environmental context of field sites and develop good habits of field safety, sustainability and geo-ethics.

• Develop geoscience project management skills – including research question development, project planning and execution, data processing and analysis, and presentation of results.   

Itinerary

A specific schedule with full details on what to expect for each group each day of the course will be provided during pre-trip preparation meetings. We have taken great care in designing a field course that is full of engaging field learning opportunities, yet well-paced to enable breaks and rest.  

The tentative 2024 course schedule is below. See the syllabus on the Resources page for more course details. Students taking the course for credit will have an introductory assignment due before the field course, and have a week beyond the end of the field course to turn in your final essay assignment.

Does this field course count for class credit?

Students enrolled at the University of Florida may take the course for 2 credit hours. For students from other institutions who want to earn credit hours for GeoSPACE, you may enroll as a visiting student at UF. GeoSPACE does not pay for the cost of credit hours (but you can use your stipend for that if you choose).

You do not have to enroll for credit hours in order to participate in the program, but selection priority will be given to students taking the field course for credit.

Behavior and Code of Conduct

The GeoSPACE project has an intentional focus on including diverse identities in the geosciences and creating a field course that makes everyone feel welcome. All students on the GeoSPACE project will be expected to treat all team members with respect. The code of conduct is collaboratively developed/edited by participants each year, and participants will be required to sign off on the Code of Conduct before participating in the course. 

So I, the student, get an expenses-paid field course (in person or virtual) and a mentoring program. What's in it for you, the project team?

In a word, data. Data about how students learn in field settings, and data that will contribute to making experiential learning more inclusive and accessible for everyone. We will be testing approaches to on-site and remote field work, exploring what works and what doesn't, and refining our approach for future courses. Essentially, we will be studying the class, while the class studies geology. We hope that the outcomes from the project can influence a positive change towards more a more inclusive discipline. Student participants must sign a Consent Form to formally agree to be part of this research.

Additionally, we see our students as co-collaborators. When you participate in GeoSPACE, you can be part of a team working to break down barriers in the geosciences. We welcome your engagement in the broader work of this project!