INTEGRATING FIELD CAMP WITH THE GEOLOGICAL ENGINEERING LECTURE CURRICULUM

The University of Mississippi Department of Geology and Geological Engineering decided in 2013 to begin a new type of field experience for the Geology and Geological Engineering undergraduate majors. Rather than a single capstone 5-week field camp experience, students are now expected to fulfil two separate 2-week field camp requirements. The first field camp is designed to be taken the summer following the sophomore year with the requirement that students have completed the mineralogy-petrology and sedimentology-stratigraphy sequence of courses. This camp is based out of Ada, Oklahoma and exposes students to the strata exposed in the Arbuckle Mountains. Lab exercises in the required courses are designed to train students in the skills needed for this first field camp. The second field camp is designed to be taken following the junior year with the requirement that students have completed the first field camp plus coursework in geomorphology, structural geology, and engineering geology. This camp is based out of Santa Fe, New Mexico and exposes students to structurally complex terrain and practical geological engineering problems. Capstone courses in site characterization and geological engineering design follow in the senior year of study.

The two camps expose students to rocks and geologic structures different from those of northern Mississippi and the Mid-South region, and the experiences distribute applied field activities across the curriculum, enhancing student learning in lecture- and laboratory-based courses and maintaining student interest in and exposure to field work. The division of field camp into smaller blocks of time also permits students to take additional summer courses or participate in internships, while reducing the logistical efforts required managing a field camp. This past summer the department was able to accommodate 60 students in the first field camp and 46 in the second.