This class is given jointly with the Illinois State University (ISU) Department of Geography and Geology. It is a six week program designed to teach geological field mapping and integrative geologic problem-solving. The class spends four weeks in Wyoming and two weeks in the Black Hills of South Dakota.
During the course, students typically spend six days a week in the field working on a variety of group and individual projects. Early in the course students are familiarized with the regional Phanerozoic stratigraphy and Precambrian crystalline basement rocks, learning how to describe rocks, measure stratigraphic sections, and record geologic field data. After this initial introductory week, students conduct a series of group mapping projects ranging from two to four days in length, and covering areas from approximately one to three square miles. Included in these projects are map areas containing lightly to highly deformed Precambrian igneous and metamorphic rocks as well as Phanerozoic sedimentary rocks deformed during the Laramide Orogeny. Students will map rocks deformed in a wide variety of structural styles.
Cost: $3600 (both in-state and out-of-state students). This includes meals, lodging, travel between DeKalb and the field sites, local transportation and instructional fees for 6 credit hours.
Prerequisites: courses in Structural Geology, Stratigraphy/Sedimentology and Mineralogy. Cumulative grade point average for all geology courses must be at least 2.0.
Credit hours: 6
Summer 2008 dates: May 18 - June 28
Apply: contact Anne Petty Johnson at lasep@niu.edu or call 815-753-5200.
Students and faculty will be housed at various field sites, including Sheridan College, Sheridan, Wyoming, the Michelson Field Station near Cody, Wyoming, and Black Hills State University in Spearfish, South Dakota.
At the beginning of the course, students may travel with the group by van from DeKalb, Illinois, or arrange for separate travel to Sheridan, Wyoming. At the conclusion of the course, students may travel by group to DeKalb, Illinois, or depart and travel privately to the destination of their choice. Students share rooms in dormitories, cabins or motels throughout the course. While on college or university property, students have ready access to campus recreational, computer, and internet facilities. With the exception of Sundays and two or three extended travel days at the beginning and end of the course, all meals are included in the cost of the course.
Course content and schedule - Dr. Mark P. Fischer, Field Camp Director
Costs and application process - lasep@niu.edu or 815-753-5200