Geography And Geology Faculty,
Students Take Research Trip
October 13, 2003
Bowling Green, Ky. - Fourteen students and two faculty members from Western Kentucky University's Department of Geography and Geology conducted fieldwork in California over fall break as part of the department's field camp and study abroad program.
Dr. Andrew Wulff and Dr. Chris Groves supervised student research at several sites during the trip, with each student responsible for giving a pre-trip presentation about their research topic, leading a discussion at their research site, and writing a road-log of their area that will be compiled into a field guide for the trip.
Participating geoscience graduate students were Joseph Islas, Andrea Croskrey, Christina Henry, Scott Schoefernacker, Benjamin Tobin and Joel Despain. Undergraduate geology students were Josh Brewer, Jennifer Burns, Patty Chalmers, Brian Ham, Mollie Laird, Amanda Mullen, Robbie Thomas and Michael Zimmerman.
The students researched such diverse geoscience topics as: alternative energy resources, with a tour of the Coso geothermal field and the Tehachapi wind-power facility; the hydrology, geology and geomorphology of the southern Sierra Nevada, with tours of Crystal and Boyden Caves and Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park; earthquakes, with a transect across the Great Valley and the San Andreas Fault; coastal processes at Montana de Oro State Park, with specific attention to native vegetation and the threats of encroaching non-indigenous species; and desert landscapes, with a visit to Red Rock Canyon State Park and examinations of tilted sediments and basalt flows in the region.
During the trip, contacts were made with faculty and students at Humboldt State and the University of California, which may lead to future research and teaching collaborations.
"Field-based research trips such as these are essential to our student-research-centered geoscience curriculum as they help students to have a much better understanding of the environmental challenges facing our communities as we continue to integrate into a global society," said Dr. David Keeling, head of the Department of Geography and Geology.
Over the coming year, the department has planned student-centered research trips to study Geology in the Bahamas (Spring Break 2004), environmental change in the British Isles (June 2004), and the geological sciences at the Wasatch-Uinta field camp in Utah (Summer 2004).
For information about the department's research or field trips, contact Dr. Keeling at (270) 745-4555 or david.keeling@wku.edu.
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