MAKING FIELD WORK ACCESSIBLE FOR NON-TRADITIONAL STUDENTS AND EDUCATORS

There is a pressing need for geoscience graduates to devise creative solutions related to cleaner energy and climate change. However, many students will graduate high school without ever taking an upper level Earth Science course. Just as young people cannot imagine themselves in careers they haven’t been exposed to, prospective students may not pursue a degree in geoscience until exposure later in their college career or even post college, when considering a career change. Field work, an exciting and many times necessary degree requirement, is a foundational experiential learning experience. However, field work in many ways is still designed for the traditional undergraduate experience where a student has the freedom and finances to travel for weeks at a time, sometimes out of the country. This presentation is a reflection on two unique Regional Geology courses to the Great Basin, occurring ten years apart at two different universities (UNC Asheville and George Mason University). This paper is a reflection on how field work has shaped my approach to teaching geoscience and recommendations on how collegiate geoscience programs can adapt field work and other courses to be more accessible for non-traditional students.