{"id":44861,"date":"2017-05-23T16:08:04","date_gmt":"2017-05-23T20:08:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=44861"},"modified":"2017-05-24T11:19:34","modified_gmt":"2017-05-24T15:19:34","slug":"gallery-students-head-north-for-field-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2017\/05\/gallery-students-head-north-for-field-research\/","title":{"rendered":"GALLERY: Students head north for field research"},"content":{"rendered":"

With spring comes a rite of passage for senior\u00a0students in Brock’s\u00a0Department of Earth Sciences.<\/span><\/p>\n

On the day after exams end, a group of eager learners\u00a0head north on an experiential education trek, applying classroom knowledge to field research in the Earth Sciences 3P99 Field Camp \u2014 Solid Earth course.<\/span><\/p>\n

This year\u2019s trip recently took 11 students to Charlton Lake Camp, near Killarney Ont., where they spent 10 days examining sedimentary and igneous rocks that are up to 2.5 billion years old, and learning important skills that are required for Earth Sciences jobs in government and industry.<\/span><\/p>\n

Professor Frank Fueten, who co-led the outing with Professor Nigel Blamey, said the experiential learning opportunities the trip provides extend well beyond the incredibly diverse selection of rocks the students encounter.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMany years, we take students who have never been north of Barrie,\u201d he said, \u201cand staying in cabins can be a fun adjustment for them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Fueten also emphasized that becoming used to life in the field is an important skill for many earth scientists.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMany of our graduates end up working for small companies where you fly in and stay in a camp setting for weeks at a time,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The unique course has been running for more than two decades and highlights Brock\u2019s long history of field-research-based experiential education. It also serves as the Introductory Field Technique component of the students\u2019 Professional Geoscientist (PGeo) training.<\/span><\/p>\n

While in the field, the class gains hands-on experience mapping rocks, producing maps and writing a final report on deadline.<\/span><\/p>\n

In spite of the the 12-hour days, some students find the most fatiguing aspect of the course to be the final written report, which is due on the trip\u2019s last morning.<\/span><\/p>\n

Though they are given time each day to work on the assignment, Fueten noted that it\u2019s not uncommon for a few members of the course to be up a bit late on the last night finishing their writing while learning the important lesson of a hard deadline.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s usually pretty quiet in the van on the way home,\u201d he chuckled.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\t