VIRTUAL FIELDWORK EXPERIENCES TO ALLOW ONLINE EXPLORATION OF CLASSIC CENOZOIC PACIFIC COAST MARINE FOSSIL LOCALITIES

A series of virtual fieldwork experiences (VFEs) are being created as part of the educational outreach associated with EPICC (Eastern Pacific Invertebrate Communities of the Cenozoic) project (https://epiccvfe.berkeley.edu). Virtual fieldwork experiences enable audiences to document and/or visit sites through visual imagery and an interactive interface, generally on the Internet. VFEs may be made by learners documenting a site or, as in this case, made by science educators and researchers for learners who cannot access certain sites directly. VFEs often blend high-resolution images, panoramas, 3D imagery, and video taken at the site with maps, microscope images, and data.

The most recently completed EPICC VFE documents outcrops of the Purisima Formation along the California coast. Field sites in this VFE include Half Moon Bay and Capitola Beach. The VFE explores topics such as stratigraphic relationships among field localities, fossil assemblage changes, and differential weathering among sedimentary layers. The first project VFE was for the Kettleman Hills near Coalinga in central California. Others planned in the near future include Pleistocene terraces in southern California (under development) and the Astoria Formation of Oregon (forthcoming).

The EPICC VFEs are divided into modules. Each existing VFE includes modules such as “Explore Landscapes,” “Explore Sediments,” and “Explore Fossils.” The modules “Field to Museum” and “What is a Fossil?” will be used across the EPICC VFEs. The modules in principle can be explored by learners of any background. Supporting guides are provided for teachers and students, and a glossary provides geological and paleontological definitions. The modules make NGSS connections and illustrate Crosscutting Concepts using driving questions. These VFEs also are intended to highlight the importance of paleontology and research collections in understanding our world, how human activities are changing the world, and how studies of past life and past climates can inform decision-making for environmental stewardship.