Geology Field Experience

The State System’s Geology Field Experience is an opportunity for students to apply their knowledge and skills to the investigation of Pennsylvania’s unique and varied geology. Students will work independently and in groups during a 5-week immersive, field-based course, to collect, analyze, and interpret field-based data and to develop scientific reports and presentations. Fundamental skills in Geology, such as lithologic and stratigraphic descriptions, surficial and bedrock mapping, and geophysical and environmental analyses, will be developed. The course is offered throughout Pennsylvania with field-based modules taught by experts from across the State System. 

The Geology Field Experience is part of a collaborative project, funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation, creating a Geoscience Learning Ecosystem (GLE) throughout the State System.  The GLE is a multi-faceted, sustainable initiative to foster statewide collaboration among faculty, industry partners, and all State System universities with Geoscience programs. Also part of the GLE are Geology Short Courses (GeoSLIP-STREAM) for high school students. Focused on underrepresented minorities, these courses will be interwoven and enhanced by participation with local/regional professional Geoscientists.   We expect the GLE to improve field-based instruction and learning for Pennsylvania students, with the goal of increasing their workforce and graduate school preparedness. The GLE will also introduce pre-college students to geoscience career pathways, with the goal of increasing URM participation in the geosciences. 

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Summer 2023 Highlights

In Summer 2023, the Geoscience Field Course began at West Chester University, then traveled to Shippensburg and Slippery Rock to introduce students to the complex and diverse geology that underpins Pennsylvania’s economy and related environmental hazards. The field course was team-taught by multiple instructors with different areas of expertise.  Twenty two students were not only engaged in learning critical field mapping skills, they were also introduced to geology sub-disciplines including coastal sedimentology, carbonate and clastic stratigraphy, karst landforms and related hazards, igneous and metamorphic geology, structural geology, geophysical imaging, remote sensing, hydrology and environmental geochemistry. Students used state-of-the-art geotechnologies, and learned in the field from diverse geology practitioners which included the UGSS, PA state geologists from DCNR and DEP, PA Council of Professional Geologists, a number of private mining geologists, and more.  Alumni students from the summer 2022 field course assisted with the summer 2023 program, and the class once again participated in service-learning experiences with teachers and pre-college students.

Summer 2022 Highlights

In Summer 2022, the Geoscience Field Course began at Kutztown University, then traveled to PennWest Edinboro and PennWest California to introduce students to varied geologic, economic, and environmental issues across the state. The GFC was team-taught by six PASSHE instructors with different areas of expertise including field mapping, sedimentology, stratigraphy, geomorphology, Quaternary geology, structural geology, and hydrology.