GEOSCIENCES AND PETROLEUM ENGINEERING AT MISSOURI S&T: A TALE OF TWO FIELD CAMPS

The Missouri University of Science and Technology has replaced its traditional five to six week “cap-stone” summer field course with two separate three week field courses: an introduction to field methods course taken during either the students freshman or sophomore year and an advanced field methods course taken in either the students junior or senior year. These courses are offered immediately at the end of the spring semester on alternate years. This format offers several benefits to our students, including allowing them to participate in summer internships, summer school, or summer jobs in the same summer they are participating in one of the field camps. Several freshman and sophomore students have been able to use this experience to convince employers that they are viable candidates for summer internships involving field work. The three week duration significantly reduced obvious symptoms of “burn-out” and creates a more effective learning environment. More importantly, student success in the Geosciences is linked to developing a sense of scale and the ability to visualize within your mind solutions to three dimensional spatial problems. Developing these skills earlier in student’s academic careers and providing personal mental images that can be called upon when subjects such as cross-beds and plunging folds are discussed in future lectures help students grasp the importance of these concepts. This format also allows for ample opportunity to reinforce these skills again and again on the many field trips they take, as well as during the advanced field methods course. In addition, this format allowed us to experiment with having the first week of the introductory course being shared with Petroleum Engineering students. During this week joint exercises focus on building a common understanding and respect between scientists and engineers for the importance of quantitative field observations and measurements to solving issues associated with exploration and production of hydrocarbon reservoirs.