For many years I participated to field activities with students, both at the bachelor’s and master’s level. I mainly did them in different locations of the Apennines and Alps with students form the University of Chieti-Pescara (Italy),  both also did a couple of years in the Montpellier area with students from Paris VII University.

Field trips are always nice, but some years were just memorable and left me with nostalgia at the end of the trip. If you were a student at that time, hopefully you share the same experience and you know what I am talking about (even if I may not have found all the group photos).

I am particularly emotionally bond to the Field Trip that I held in the Dolomites (Italy) for few years, as it was my personal initiative: I organized it to address the need for students to have more field experience in the Earth Science program at the University of Chieti-Pescara. I was responsible for all the planning, the administrative and geological organization... 

Few years earlier I was the main faculty support for students in the organization of a project named Sponge Spicules. This project was proposed under my supervision for a group of 42 geology students and included a geologic field trip and the creation of educational posters targeting the students that did not actively participate in the initiative. The posters underwent a peer-review process by the participants to the "Jack's Day" congress in 2013. Here is a video of the activity made by one of the students: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6XCDJGb2bQ.

With these two field camps I really had the full experience! Luckily also with the help of some valid collaborators!

How I ended up teaching marine geology? That's a very good question. I guess that after my amazing experience in the International Ocean Discovery Program, I just wanted to share to experience with the next generation. I made my bed, and now I lie in it!

(Note on the picture: this picture became a pretty famous one of the JOIDES Resolution, and it was actually taken during Expedition 368 (Credit: Shuhao Xie & IODP))

Cannot wait to teach it!