Field Teaching
Me, near the top of Garnet Canyon in Grand Teton National Park. The Middle Teton, distinguishable by the vertical black dike, is behind me. Picture was taken on a field trip towards the end of class.
Learn by going outside!
I love teaching geology in the field. There's a level of understanding and connection imminently attained through seeing earth processes first hand that is much harder to reach in a classroom. I accompanied EARTH 116: Introductory Geology in the Field in 2016 as a videographer of sorts, recording student experiences and creating short videos to help students both remember all the features observed and to show friends and family what field camp is like. I was a GSI for this same class in 2015 and 2016. Class was based out of Camp Davis, the University of Michigan's Geology Field Camp just outside Jackson, WY with field trips into Grand Teton National Park, Yellowstone National Park, Craters of the Moon National Monument, and City of Rocks National Reserve in addition to many day trips around Jackson.
I wish it was possible for all Earth Science classes to include a field component, both to observe features and to learn to measure parameters outside of a lab. I discovered my own love for geology through field trips in my Introductory Geology class. I've maintained since then it's amazing what you can see when you know how to look!
Field courses taught: EARTH 450: Ecosystem science in the Rocky Mountains (summer 2021). Summer 2022 I will be teaching EARTH 202: Introductory Environmental Science out at Camp Davis; stay tuned for updates.
A slideshow featuring photos from Camp Davis and various field trips with Introductory Geology classes:
Two videos from Introductory Geology at Camp Davis Field Camp in 2014. Students wore GoPro Cameras and I flew a drone with a camera. I made videos to help students remember places we visited and field activities. Students could also direct friends and family to these videos to share what geology field camp is like!
Students walked through a lava tube in Craters of the Moon National Monument outside Arco, Idaho. This tube formed when the outside of a lava flow cooled, insulating the inside, and allowing lava to continue flowing through. These flows are very young, only ~2000 years old! They exist because of the Great Rift, itself part of Basin and Range Extension.
River discharge, or Q, is a measurement of water volume that flows through an imaginary plane in the river perpendicular to flow. In the US, it is commonly measured in cubic feet per second. Students measured a cross sectional area of three different rivers, then measured water velocity in different areas of the stream. They used those measurements to calculate Q in the classroom.