RIVALS FOR ROCKS: THE USM & MSU FIELD GEOLOGY COURSE

The University of Southern Mississippi's Department of Geography and Geology and Mississippi State University's Department of Geosciences launched a cooperative Field Geology course during the Summer of 2017 in Central and West Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado. Faculty from both institutions are committed to ensuring our students exhibit competence in traditional field mapping and selected contemporary field techniques, and to further demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of geologic concepts based on interpretation of field data. The collaboration was made possible by leveraging faculty expertise, shared equipment, and student enrollment to ensure a critical mass necessary to sustain an annual offering of the course. Additionally, an informal agreement with proprietors of the Pitkin Hotel in Gunnison County, CO, ensured a base of operation instrumental for arranging logistics and facilitating the establishment of a curriculum in the region. The course included two warm-up exercises in Texas followed by eight group projects that focused on geologic mapping of complex structural regions with variable lithology, hydrologic and geomorphic assessments of mountain streams, and aspects of engineering geology. Academic benefits incurred through institutional cooperation included continuity with courses previously taken at the home institution balanced with exposure to strengths offered from the cooperating institution. Many students had limited exposure to regions outside of the southeastern USA, and coupled with an intentional rotation of group members for different projects, the course provided a rich and valuable opportunity for intellectual and cultural growth. Further, faculty from both institutions greatly benefited from learning about the geology of regions different from the southeastern USA, which translates into more effective instruction of geologic concepts. Finally, camaraderie developed among students and faculty will serve to support professional networks.