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Jackson School of Geosciences Online

Field Camps

Geo 660 students.
Geology 660 students.

Fieldwork is an integral part of the Jackson School of Geosciences experience. Each summer, field camps led by Jackson School faculty enable geoscience students to literally get their hands dirty and feet wet as they study the processes that shaped the landscapes that surround them. Being primarily for undergraduates, these courses are many students’ first introduction to geosciences outside of the classroom.

Geology 660

“Field camp is where the pieces click together — tectonics, glaciation, modern alluvial deposition volcanics. All layered together and for the first time it is our job to separate them, understand how one process affects another. We must read what is exposed on the surface and tell the story!” said Natalie Raia

Conner Everts and assistant instructor Meredith Bush examining the fault scarp of the 1959 Hebgen Lake Earthquake in southwest Montana.
Conner Everts and assistant instructor Meredith Bush examining the fault scarp of the 1959 Hebgen Lake Earthquake in southwest Montana.
Professor Ron steel and student Mitchell Riegler examine a map near Minnie’s gap, Wyoming.
Professor Ron steel and student Mitchell Riegler examine a map near Minnie’s gap, Wyoming.
Group photo in the Big Belt Mountains, Montana.
Group photo in the Big Belt Mountains, Montana
Geology 660 students in the field.
Geology 660 students in the field.

Marine Geology and Geosciences

In 2015, the Marine Geology and Geosciences field course went to Freeport for the first time. The class examined the lower Brazos River and adjacent fluvial systems as well as the ancestral versions of these river systems where they carved into the Texas shelf during the last sea level low stand. During the course, the Brazos River went into flood stage due to the major rainfall in May, providing opportunities
for the students to study sedimentary processes in action.

“I loved this course. I don’t know what I was expecting, but I was really impressed by how realistic an experience the instructors managed to create while compressing the lifecycle of a research project into three weeks,” said Laura Lindzey

Recovering the chirp sonar towfish from the R. V. Manta.
Recovering the chirp sonar towfish from the R. V. Manta.
Watchstanding during the geophysical survey aboard the R.V. manta.
Watchstanding during the geophysical survey aboard the R.V. manta.

Marine 5

Celebrating a successful week of surveying with a crawfish boil.
Celebrating a successful week of surveying with a crawfish boil.

Hydrology

The hydrology field class brought 15 students to the Valles Caldera preserve in the Jemez Mountains for a week of studying mountain hydrology and shallow groundwater pro­cesses. The students conducted field work such as stream gauging, a dye trace, water sampling, ground-penetrating radar and slug tests. They also conducted a 24-hour pump test in Hornsby Bend in Austin.

“It was an absolutely incredible experience. Despite being unfamiliar with most [people in] the class, the vast and beautiful landscape instilled a unique sort of camaraderie amongst us all,” said Ian Hanes.

Maggie Flannery taking a break at the well field.
Maggie Flannery taking a break at the well field.
Lee Bobbitt, Ian Hanes and Peter Carlson setting up the dye/salt trace.
Lee Bobbitt, Ian Hanes and Peter Carlson setting up the dye/salt trace.
Maggie Flannery and Emma Heitmann taking e-line measurements during the pump test.
Maggie Flannery and Emma Heitmann taking e-line measurements during the pump test.

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