THE ROLE OF HYDROTECHNICAL FIELD COURSES IN COMPLEMENTING HYDROGEOLOGIC CURRICULA: AN EXAMPLE FROM WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY

Statistics compiled by the American Geosciences Institute indicate that the largest proportion of geoscience jobs are held by environmental scientists. To meet national demands for well-trained environmental geoscience professionals, vibrant and effective hydrogeology programs are essential. Effective hydrogeology curricula – at both the undergraduate and graduate levels – need to encompass a diverse set of courses that balance applied, field-based content with theory. While most hydrogeology related courses offered during the academic year are designed to impart a combination of applied and theoretical concepts, providing practical field experience and associated experiential learning opportunities is often lacking due to constraints in course schedules, student availability, and inclement weather. Geology programs have long recognized these constraints, and hold immersive geology camps offered during the summer. The learning objectives and content of traditional geology field camps, however, do not develop the professional skill sets needed by environmental geoscientists. A handful of hydrotechnical field courses have been established by universities to provide advanced field work and hands-on experience necessary for successful employment of student graduates in a diverse set of environmental careers. This presentation will focus on the structure of Western Michigan University’s (WMU) Hydrogeology Field Course (HFC), and how the HFC provides critical infrastructure for undergraduate, graduate, and certificate programs in hydrogeology. For example, the HFC serves as a required, capstone field course for hydrogeology undergraduate majors, and WMU’s certificate programs in applied hydrogeology are an outgrowth of the HFC that are available to both local and distance students. At the graduate level, the HFC provides all students, even those who have no field component to their research, with technical field experience that they would not otherwise acquire and that will serve them well in their future employment. Similar to traditional geology field camps, the HFC is available to students both internal and external to WMU, and lends support to hydrogeology curricula across the nation.