FIVE CONTINENTS WITH UNDERGRADS: GEOLOGY FIELD TRIPS AROUND THE WORLD

The rewards of leading field trips, international or domestic, should outweigh the logistical challenges. Academic institutions have legitimate concerns not only about liability, but also with regard to student health and safety. For international field trips some colleges and universities have strict requirements, in part based on U.S. State Department travel emergencies and warnings, and Centers for Disease Control travel health warnings, precautions, and outbreaks. For the students, the requirements may include an international ID card (benefits may include medical evacuation insurance), a health statement (medical insurance and other information), and a liability waiver. The faculty may have to provide: approval from appropriate academic departments; itinerary; budget and fees; qualifications of leaders; information about agents, transportation, lodging (or campsites), communications, and medical facilities and evacuation. Participants must know about recommended immunizations, water purification, fund transfers and money exchange, proper clothing and equipment, and personal first aid kits including anti-diarrhea medication. Including a doctor (e.g., an alum who pays his/her own way) reduces worries about potential accidents and illness. Before departure all participants should be registered with the U.S. Embassy of each country to be visited. Upon arrival at each new destination, students should be provided with local emergency contact information. Specific potential problems that one must be prepared to deal with include high-altitude sickness (e.g., Andes, Kilimanjaro, Tibet), hypothermia (e.g., Greenland), heatstroke (e.g., the Gobi and the Sahara), glacial crevasses (e.g., Iceland), erupting volcanoes (e.g., Arenal, Etna, Oldoinyo Lengai), and political unrest (e.g., Yugoslavia – 1988, South Africa – 1994, Ecuador – 2000, Zambia/Zimbabwe – 2001, Nepal – 2005). Engaging a travel agent who specializes in a particular region reduces logistical headaches. To supplement the geologic education, consider including a biologist for a reef or a rain forest, or an astronomer for a total eclipse. An example of the requirements for faculty-led trips abroad can be found at http://www.whitman.edu/study_abroad/content/Other/Faculty%20Led%20Trips.cfm