THE EVOLVING ROLE OF NATIONAL PARKS AND MONUMENTS IN THE EASTERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY GEOLOGY FIELD CAMP

Eastern Illinois University has offered a geology field camp in the Black Hills of South Dakota and Wyoming for 28 years. National parks and monuments such as Devils Tower , Grand Teton, Mt. Rushmore, the Badlands, and Yellowstone have always featured prominently in the field camp curriculum. Recently, the role of the parks in the course has been expanded from geologic field lectures and a graded notebook to include several components of geological research. We currently involve students in three different ongoing research projects in Yellowstone National Park including: a cooperative GPS study with Wilkes University on crustal deformation associated with the Yellowstone Caldera, a thermal study of selected hot springs in the Lower Geyser Basin, and a palynological investigation of the Eocene Sepulcher Formation in the northern portion of the park. During these studies, students set up and monitor precision GPS equipment, collect thermal data with thermocouples and record hot spring locations with a roving GPS unit, and locate and collect palynological samples. We believe that incorporation of these research components into our geology field camp has provided an important link between traditional field mapping and direct application of geologic field principles. Furthermore, the research projects are well received by the students who are excited to contribute to larger ongoing studies.