IMPACTS OF A GEOCORPS INTERNSHIP AS A GEOLOGY INTERPRETER AT THE CUSTER-GALLATIN NATIONAL FOREST

Often what is thought of as an internship for a geology undergraduate student is one that consists of the student being a part of a research project. However, not all internships are this way. In this presentation, I will give my perspective based on my experiences working with the public as an interpreter of geology. For my summer internship after my sophomore year of college, I was stationed in the Custer-Gallatin National Forest at the Earthquake Lake Visitor Center in Cameron, Montana. Displays at the Visitor Center focus on the 1959, 7.3 magnitude earthquake that struck under nearby Hebgen Lake and that also caused the subsequent landslide downstream in Madison Canyon. I would host short talks with visitors of all ages about the local geology as well as share information about earthquakes and seismic waves. I developed a small educational program for use with an augmented reality sandbox to model the landslide event, and I wrote a document with information about the talks and other duties I performed for future participants of the internship.

Through the internship, I gained knowledge of working with the public in a teaching context. At the same time, I learned from the public who provided feedback and their own stories and experiences, including about the 1959 earthquake. I also took advantage of opportunities to network. For example, I set up meetings for myself with the local Forest District geologist and the seismology director of the Bureau of Mines and Geology in Montana. I gained a sense of what to expect from one possible career in this discipline. Starting out at the beginning of my sophomore year, I was a newly declared geology major, having done a year of exploring. By the end of that summer internship, I had had an opportunity that changed my life’s trajectory. By being in a geologic environment that was radically different from the setting of my home institution, I began to understand why there are various disciplines of geology. We, as students, are always told stories of success, given advice, and encouraged to attend conferences. From my lived experience, I can now attest to the soundness of that advice and contribute my own thoughts on these discussions between mentor and student.