THE BLACK HILLS NATURAL SCIENCES FIELD STATION (SDSMT): FIELD GEOLOGY AND GEOLOGICAL ENGINEERING PROGRAM IN THE 21ST CENTURY

The Black Hills Natural Sciences Field Station has provided field training in geology and geological engineering for more that 40 years. During a period of low enrollments in the 1980s the roll of the station was expanded to that of a consortium serving five schools with South Dakota School of Mines and Technology as the coordinator. The traditional summer program is delivered in the Black Hills from a beautiful log lodge along Sand Creek, eastern Wyoming. Geologic and engineering projects related to Precambrian basement, Paleozoic stratigraphy, and Tertiary plutonism are examined.

Current growth of this program is in three forms, the addition of a one-half time coordinator, the expansion of courses offerings, and the integration of new technologies into all courses. New courses include: 1) Environmental Field Geology – for geoscience majors and other disciplines, e.g., Civil Engineering; 2) International Field Geology – a geological/cultural experience offered through our field station at Taskesti, northwestern Turkey; 3) International Field Geological Engineering -- a cooperative effort for petroleum engineering students from the Texas A&M Qattar campus, also at Taskesti. In Turkey the students examine basic geologic problems across a suture zone within the Tethys realm.

We intend in all courses to maintain a strong emphasis on basic field applications. This includes the use of new techniques, however, e.g., GPS as a mapping tool in most exercises and the beginning-level use of tablet computer-based field mapping. The preparation of well written reports supplemented by figures and research on the web or through CD handouts is strongly emphasized.