MEMOIRS OF AN UNREPENTANT GEOLOGIC FIELD TRIP LEADER

Geologic field trips fall into three categories: student, professional, and recreational. Geoscience teachers generally agree that student field trips offer some of the best opportunities for student learning. This is perhaps attributable to the novelty for students and the immersive aspects that enhance engagement. They clearly provide an opportunity for development of experiential skill sets from observation, interpretation, and feedback through the Socratic method. Professional and recreational field trips share many of the same attributes but tend to address more controversial content or require greater physical exertion.

So how does one learn to plan and lead geologic field trips? Budgeting and liability advice are available in the Geological Society of America Section Handbook, which is available online (http://www.geosociety.org/sectionmanual/toc.htm#ft), but there are few other resources and checklists for field trip leaders. Experience is not always the best teacher, but anecdotes can give insight into the variety of mishaps that can befall a trip. This talk provides personal and second-hand examples of inclement weather, poor road conditions, bad navigation, vehicle breakdowns, medical risks, natural hazards, and potential liabilities. All-in-all, there are few field trips where negative extrinsic factors have not served to make them memorable — if not treasured — in hindsight.