Where did you attend field camp? 

The University of California, Riverside, conducted my field camp, where I stayed at the following four University of California research stations: Crooked Creek, Barcroft, SNARL, and Owens Valley.

What did receiving the J. David Lowell Field Camp Scholarship mean to you?

Receiving the J. David Lowell Field Camp Scholarship allowed me to complete the undergraduate part of my academic journey without adding an economic burden on my family. It covered tuition and essential supplies, including a hiking backpack and shoes.

What did that experience teach you about the geosciences, yourself, and your future career?

Going to field camp after being a student during COVID-19 taught me practical skills I could not learn from online classes. It also taught me that I was strong enough to map a large area in extreme heat, work with a great group of students that I did not know well going into the camp, and that I could not only overcome my challenges but thrive in the field of geology and love it.

What opportunities did attending field camp provide that you wouldn’t have had otherwise?

Field camp was a transforming experience for me. I had minimal field experience before attending, and now I feel very confident with mapping, using a Brunton to locate myself on a map, taking measurements in the field, and with my physical abilities to complete a more extensive mapping project.

In your opinion, how important is field camp for geoscience students?

Field camp is essential for geoscience students to gain practical skills, confidence, independence, teamwork, problem-solving skills, and safety awareness. It was challenging but allowed for personal and professional growth, readying us for our next steps, whether a job or graduate school.

Why should individuals support field camp opportunities for students?

The ability for students to attend field camps can have many obstacles, from costs to time and logistics. With the support of individuals, the financial barrier can be removed, helping students to achieve their goals and prepare them for the future.

Where did you attend field camp?

I attended field camp through my geosciences department at Fort Hays State University. We spent July camping out and doing fieldwork throughout Utah, Arizona, and Colorado. We visited some truly remarkable geological sites, including Bryce Canyon, Zion, and Grand Canyon National Parks; Dinosaur National Monument; Meteor Crater; Monument Valley; Horseshoe Bend and Goosenecks State Parks; and the Royal Gorge.

What did receiving the J. David Lowell Field Camp Scholarship mean to you?

Field camp is required for my geology degree, but it was very expensive. As someone who comes from a low-income family, I am so grateful for the support I received from the J. David Lowell Field Camp Scholarship. It paid for half of my field camp costs, which made expenses more manageable. I am very honored to have received this award. Not only did it support me financially, but winning the award also gave me more confidence in myself and my potential as a field scientist.

What did that experience teach you about the geosciences, yourself, and your future career?

Field camp felt like a culmination of the past three years of my geology classes. I learned to apply my knowledge of mineralogy, petrology, structural geology, and sedimentology into real-world field settings. Though I have considerable paleontology field experience, my field camp taught me a completely different set of field skills. Throughout field camp, I progressively learned how to be a field geologist. At first, I asked a lot of questions to make sure I was doing the projects correctly. Over time, I learned that I already knew how to “think like a geologist,” and that I just needed to work on trusting myself and applying it to the physical world around me. By the end of field camp, I was much more confident and sure of my abilities as a field geologist.

What opportunities did attending field camp provide that you wouldn’t have had otherwise?

We camped in the field throughout July, setting up and tearing down camp every 2–3 days. Though camping in desert regions of the west in the middle of summer posed its own challenges, I think that working and living in harsh conditions was a valuable experience for me. My field camp experiences will serve me well throughout my career as a paleontologist. It also gave me the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see so many wonders of the North American west in one magnificent trip, while bonding with other professionals and future scientists.

In your opinion, how important is field camp for geoscience students?

To me, field camp is extremely important for geoscience students to understand themselves, the field of geology, the methods of fieldwork, and how to perceive and think about the geological world which surrounds us. As my professor told us, field camp is “a rite of passage” to becoming a practicing geologist and field scientist. I personally believe that field camp is an absolutely integral part and highlight of a geoscience student’s academic career.

Why should individuals support field camp opportunities for students?

There are students across the country in poor financial circumstances, like myself, who would really struggle to afford to attend field camp on their own. Generous people who support field camp opportunities make it possible for people like me to experience field camp, which was such a wonderful and vital opportunity for me. I am so grateful for the support I received from the J. David Lowell Field Camp Scholarship.

On 29 November, #GivingTuesday, the GSA Foundation launches our year-end efforts to support field camp opportunities for students. You can help aspiring geoscientists attend field camp in 2023! Read about the life-changing experiences of this year’s student recipients on the Foundation blog with new stories posted weekly.

Unforgettable, pivotal, crucial, invaluable, transformative. These are just a few of the words the 2022 J. David Lowell Field Camp Scholarship recipients used to describe to their field camp experience.Thanks to your support, this year we were able to provide funding for a record thirty J. David Lowell Field Camp Scholarships, ten more than when the program was solely funded by a corporate sponsor. With your help, lack of funding doesn’t have to be an insurmountable challenge for students to participate in the experience of field camp.

Make a gift of any size between Giving Tuesday and 31 December to help provide support for students to attend field camp in 2023.

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Interview with Alec Siurek

Where did you attend field camp?

I attended field camp at the Judson Mead Indiana University Geologic Field Station out in the Tobacco Root Mountains of southwestern Montana.

What did receiving the J. David Lowell Field Camp Scholarship mean to you?

For me, receiving the J. David Lowell Field Camp Scholarship meant that I was able to offset the cost of field camp by approximately 40%, and was the deciding factor for me in attending the IU Field Camp. Receiving this scholarship was huge for me, as it meant I was able to save a significant amount of the little money I make as a college student, and being able to attend field camp without the worry of having to pay back the loan I would have needed was a wonderful feeling.

What did that experience teach you about the geosciences, yourself, and your future career?

My experience at field camp only solidified my desire to embed myself in the geosciences. The course at the IU Geologic Field Station challenged my skills in fieldwork, note-taking, and structural geology, which I was always excited to face. Field camp certainly taught me how to take proper notes in the field, how to read the lithology of an area and use it in a more regional context, and overall gave me the necessary foundation to be a good field geologist. Field camp was tough, both physically and mentally challenging, but it was a challenge that got me out of my bunk every morning, as I found every day brought new experiences that I find myself missing more and more as time goes on. As for my career, I would love to continue research, especially in a place such as southwest Montana with its pristine exposures of rock and fascinating geological history. As of right now, I am torn between going on to get my Master’s degree and work with my state’s geologic survey, or getting my Ph.D. and teaching, as I have found that I love to help others to appreciate the wonders of the geosciences as I do.

What opportunities did attending field camp provide that you wouldn’t have had otherwise?

Attending field camp provided me with a way to prove to myself that my skills as a geologist are as sharp as they can be. Coming from northwest Indiana where the tallest feature around is Holocene sand dunes and overall lacking any good exposures of bedrock, getting to attend field camp in Montana was a unique experience that gave me more classical training than any field camp locally would have provided for me.

In your opinion, how important is field camp for geoscience students?

I think that field camp is absolutely necessary for geoscience students. While departments may make field camp attendance a requirement, I believe that it is necessary because of the experience that it gives you. Everyone in the geosciences always talks about how great of an experience field camp is and how life-changing it is, and after attending myself I couldn’t agree more with them.

Why should individuals support field camp opportunities for students?

Simply put, when you support field camp opportunities for students, you are supporting the next generation of geoscientists that will go on to do extraordinary things in their careers, especially in a time when understanding our interactions and impacts on our planet is crucial. Supporting field camp opportunities for students provides them with an incredible experience while helping to make this experience much more affordable.

… Wild, vast, Denali National Park, to be exact. We stood at the abrupt end of a gravel road, a chilling wind rolling up over its brink, staring across a tumbling mountainside a hundred yards to another precipitous edge where the road re-started. My mind needed time to make sense of the visual chaos in front of us before recognizing that the crumbled earth some forty feet below was, indeed, the missing stretch of roadway.

Park geologist Denny Capps and three of Denali National Park and Preserve’s interns were explaining the Pretty Rocks Landslide, its long history, and substantially increasing movement over the past eight years. In fact, the recent displacement has been severe enough to close the park road at its midpoint while extensive two-year plans are implemented to reestablish a safe road across the slide area.

Nicole Benshoff is focused on this and other landslides throughout the park during her internship, and Samantha Hilburn is working in science communications. Both are part of the Scientists in Parks (SIP) program—a partnership between the National Park Service (NPS), the Geological Society of America, the Stewards Individual Placement Program, and the Ecological Society of America. The program offers unique opportunities to work on current scientific needs in national parks, build professional experience, and foster the next generation of diverse natural resource stewards. Angela Fiorito is an intern in the NPS’s Mosaics in Science Diversity Program, a GIS assistant documenting historical aerial photos. With first-hand experience that positions are highly sought after and competitive, all three value the exceptional opportunities to apply their geology backgrounds to real-world, science-based work in Denali.

Nicole said, “So far my time at Denali National Park and Preserve has served as a foundational experience for government work and how geology would be incorporated. The hands-on experience with geohazards, monitoring, and communication is invaluable and will bolster my graduate student skillset. I look forward to every new day as it always brings something exciting.”

GSA and the NPS have partnered on work experience programs since 1997, and Nicole’s geology assistant position is fully funded by donors who have been supporting these efforts through the GSA Foundation for sixteen years. Sally and Bob Newcomb are committed to facilitating important scientific work on challenging, current issues, noting, “The most fun Bob and I have all year is reading the letters from the interns about their experiences, the reports of their activities, and sometimes their publications. A few of the areas addressed by interns in Denali include glaciation, hazard mitigation, river morphology, novel fossils, monitoring fossil access, and visitor education,” and now, the tremendously important work on increasing landslide implications in the park. The Newcombs enjoy keeping up with the interns by attending talks and posters at GSA and reading their reports, and after ten years of consistent funding, they visited Denali to interact with the interns and park staff, explore deep into the park, and learn about the science being done.

Among hundreds of annual participants in SIP and GeoCorps™ America—a similar program partnering with the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service—dozens have gone on to full-time federal employment over the years. If you are passionate about encouraging aspiring geoscientists to conduct important scientific work on America’s public lands, please contact Debbie Marcinkowski at dmarcinkowski@geosociety.org or +1-303-357-1047. General contributions of all sizes make a difference.

Standing at the dramatic edge of the Pretty Rocks Landslide, I watched Nicole’s eyes light up as she described for me in layman’s terms how the rhyolite in the Teklanika Formation contributes to the problematic instability throughout the park, as weathering results in the clay that slides. It was strikingly clear as we stood in this majestic expanse, what compels the Newcombs’ continued commitment, the immense need for scientific work in public lands, and just how much is supported through GSA’s work experience partnerships.

Debbie Marcinkoswki, GSA Foundation Executive Director

Caption: From left: Park geologist and 2022 science interns at the edge of the Pretty Rocks Landslide and the temporary end of the park road. Braided rivers characterize the landscape of Denali National Park and Preserve. Hiking up a drainage to a new landslide representative of many appearing along the park road. Nicole Benshoff explaining the geology of this kind of slide.

GSA Foundation Rendezvous in the Mountains of Saint Francis trip leaders Sandro Montanari and Frank Pazzaglia at our home base of Abbazia di Sant’Urbano, Monte San Vicino in the distance, preparing our group for the first day in the field.

Camaraderie over happy hour after dusty days in the field, friendships forged under the hot desert sun, new personal and professional connections: Although these things may not be what lured attendees to the GSA Foundation’s first-ever Death Valley Rendezvous in 2019, they are the kinds of experiences and connections that 25 participants left with after our six-day trip together based in Shoshone, California, USA.

GSAF decided to pilot this type of trip because we wanted a meaningful way to show appreciation for those who support GSA and its programs through donations to the Foundation. Offering unique field experiences for donors and their guests proved to be an ideal avenue, and when one of our committee members suggested we call the trips “rendezvous,” all agreed it was the perfect reference for the fellowship we hoped to foster.

Some attendees were longtime friends of the Foundation, and some we were meeting for the first time; some were students, some current professional geologists across disciplines, others retired from long careers, and some were family members of geologists attending. The trip held interest for all: Death Valley and the surrounding area offer a fascinating spectrum of geology to ponder, from the towering walls of Titus Canyon to the Amargosa River Valley. Trip leader Darrel Cowan (University of Washington) led lively, rich discussions at each site. In addition, we spent time talking about the ecology of the area with a local Nature Conservancy naturalist: from pupfish once thought to be extinct to the curious migration of the Phainopepla. One of the students—a Wright-Troxel Research Grant recipient—gave an evening presentation on his research focused on a nearby site. And Shoshone Village was a welcoming homebase conducive for us to gather, relax, share ideas and reflections on the days over meals, and explore on foot between scheduled activities.

After two seasons on hold due to the pandemic, our second Death Valley Rendezvous this past spring was another grand Stops during GSAF’s 2022 Death Valley Rendezvous excursion. Feedback from participants has been so positive, and the slots filled so quickly, that we have a third trip to Death Valley coming in the spring of 2023.

This September, we will travel internationally with a Rendezvous in the Mountains of Saint Francis. Our trip leaders are Alessandro Montanari and Paula Metallo (Osservatorio Geologico di Coldigioco), Frank Pazzaglia (Lehigh University), and Jan Smit (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam), each with extensive experience in the Apennines and the Marche region of Italy. We are eager to bring together another group of geology-minded friends for a rich experience exploring the area’s geologic wonders and cultural history over six field days, from a medieval landslide on the coast to a walk up the Bottaccione Gorge and the original K-T boundary outcrop, with geoarchaeologic museums, caves, Jurassic ammonoid collections in a Renaissance castle, historic villages, and, of course, food of the region to round out the trip.

GSAF will continue offering one to two Rendezvous each year for our donors, and we have a growing list of potential trip sites as you have responded with such interest in continued opportunities. Please watch for 2023 trip announcements, and feel free to contact Debbie Marcinkowski at +1-303-357-1047 or dmarcinkowski@ geosociety.org if you would like information.

Corporate partners and sponsors generate unique opportunities at GSA. The various mechanisms for company participation are each important to the Society’s programming in distinctive ways.

Meeting sponsorship can be tailored and more expansive than it might first sound. After exhibiting at GSA’s annual meeting over the years, Bruker Nano Analytics opted for greater participation in 2022. In fact, if you attended any of GSA’s section meetings this past spring, you probably picked up a bottle of hand sanitizer that Bruker provided to enhance the Society’s health and safety measures during some of our first in-person gatherings since the start of the pandemic. Bruker also sponsored each section meeting, and their participation in GSA Connects 2022 (9–12 October, Denver, Colorado) includes lead sponsorship of GEO.SCI, the tech demo area you will experience in the exhibit hall; an expanded exhibit booth; and badge lanyards for all attendees.

What compels a company like Bruker to choose GSA as a partner? Jonathan Knapp, Ph.D., Geosciences Market Segment Manager, explains the strategic reasoning: “Our partnership with GSA has been hugely beneficial to us. We have found the personal contact with members of the community at the regional shows to be extremely important. We get more out of the annual meeting by being at each of the regional meetings—it lets us have more intimate conversations and set up dedicated time at the annual meeting. We also enjoy the ability to have detailed conversations with students at their posters.

“GSA has been a great partner to work through innovative ideas with. We think that the ability to showcase new technologies and provide more hands-on and experiential exhibit halls benefits our goals. We aim to expand awareness and adoption of methods, not just our products.

“Our partnership with the Geological Society of America has been part of our overall engagement plan to build more informal connections with the scientific community. It has been a resounding success. It’s particularly important for us to engage with discussions about the development of new methods and technology. Such discussions take time, and attending multiple meetings a year helps us have multiple touch points with important partners.”

Other companies find paths of engagement that meet their needs, as well. Chevron is a steadfast example of a returning program sponsor, actively participating in GSA’s GeoCareers program for many years. This year, they are also supporting GSA’s Expanding Representation in the Geosciences Scholarships, an ideal avenue to demonstrate our mutual priority of broadening participation in the field. We are grateful to companies like Brunton who choose to be an organizational partner, providing exclusive member discounts for their products, meeting sponsorship, unique opportunities like demo fleets for GSA field trips, and the tremendous contribution of personalized, engraved Transits for GSA’s J. David Lowell Field Camp Scholarship recipients. And, longtime GSA vendor Image AV partners as an in-kind sponsor by including extensive audio/visual equipment throughout GSA Connects, outside of GSA’s contracted services.

To discuss how your company or organization can find valuable engagement through these kinds of partnerships, please contact Debbie Marcinkowski at +1-303-357-1047 or dmarcinkowski@geosociety.org.

A Bruker representative was at each GSA Section meeting this spring, along with bottles of hand sanitizer contributed by the company to help promote health & safety measures

More than most, geologists know the value of considering a longer timescale. Often, donations are made to meet an immediate need, but a legacy gift can ensure support far beyond current needs and usually, on a larger scale.

GSA has served geologists at all stages of their careers for nearly 135 years, thanks in large part to generous donors who have included the Society in their estate plans. Even as needs change and technology becomes more advanced, geoscience remains relevant and essential for addressing many of the challenges facing us around the world.

A legacy gift allows you to make a lasting difference for the Society, the programs you are passionate about, and geoscience as a whole. There are no costs or fees to set up a planned gift and you may be able to give more through your estate than during your lifetime, which allows you to make a larger impact over time and leave a legacy that reflects your values.

If you are interested in including GSA in your estate plans, you can find more information here or by contacting Debbie Marcinkowski at +1 303-357-1047 or dmarcinkowski@geosociety.org.

Spanning the years:
(Left) Walter Keller and students from the University of Missouri Branson Field Laboratory, the longest continuously running field camp in the U.S., on top of Wind River Peak in 1935. (Right) Students/TAs from the University of Missouri Branson Field Laboratory on top of Wind River Peak in 2018.

Mikelia Heberer is a first-generation college student and was very thankful to be a part of OTF during GSA Connects and have a mentor guide them through their first conference.

What was the most impactful aspect of your OTF experience?

The most impactful aspect of my OTF experience was meeting new people at the conference and at the OTF-hosted dinner. Being a part of OTF meant I was matched with a mentor. My mentor gave me valuable advice and offered words of wisdom regarding the navigation of conferences, which I greatly appreciated. My second impactful aspect of meeting new people occurred during the OTF dinner at the hotel. While at the dinner, I had the opportunity to listen to words of wisdom from speakers that told stories of their own perseverance and resilience. Their stories were very inspiring and eye opening. I really appreciated their courage in sharing these experiences with us and inspiring the future generation of scientists.

What do you remember most from GSA 2021?

The most memorable experience that I have from GSA 2021 is the moment after I gave my first professional presentation and received a round of applause from the audience. I enjoyed the experience of answering questions after my presentation and having the opportunity to enhance my presenter skills.

What was your mentorship experience like? Would you consider returning to serve as a mentor?

When looking for a mentor, I wanted someone who had taken a similar career path to what I am currently on. I was paired with a mentor who I enjoyed. She was very supportive and offered valuable advice on navigating the science world. Because of my positive experience with my OTF mentor, I would consider returning as a mentor in the future.

How do you see OTF influencing or impacting your future?

Having such a positive, first experience at a conference, partly because of OTF, has really boosted my confidence in attending professional meetings. Being super nervous when I first got to the meeting, scheduled meetings with my mentor helped me balance my time and thoughts. I believe my mentor did a great job in giving me advice and sharing her wisdom of her career path. I hope to be a mentor for OTF in the future.

What would you like to say to donors thinking about supporting programs like OTF?

OTF is a great program that opens the door for people who usually don’t have the opportunity to go to conferences like GSA. Being a first-generation college student myself, I was very thankful to be a part of OTF during GSA and have a mentor that guided me through my first conference. As a result, my opinion of professional conferences is very high, just because my experience with OTF during GSA went so well.

Anahi Carrera’s passion for geoscience was reignited after attending and presenting at GSA Connects 2021 as an OTF scholar. 

What was your OTF experience?

Thanks to support from On To the Future, I attended and presented for the first time at a GSA national conference as a graduate student. My presentation was titled “First-Generation College Students Underrepresented in US Geoscience Programs.” I have been interested in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion outreach and education since I was an undergraduate student. As a low-income, first-generation Latina pursuing higher education, I have faced many obstacles during my academic career. As an undergraduate student, I quickly realized that my geosciences classes were less diverse than most other classes and there was virtually no representation of non-White professors. I found DEI efforts to be extremely necessary and fulfilling, but as I was thinking about graduate school, I believed that DEI could not form a significant part of my work if I wanted to be considered a “serious graduate student.” I thought to myself, “It’s okay if I have to pause DEI work as a graduate student to make progress in my career because most professors will not care about it, and they may think it’s a ‘waste of my time’ and a harmful distraction from my research. My impact is minimal anyway, but once I, hopefully, become a faculty member, I could ramp up those efforts in a more influential way.” I think this exemplifies the effect of historically negative attitudes toward DEI work in the geosciences, the lack of incentives or recognition for this work, and perhaps why many remain completely uninvolved, especially those not from historically marginalized backgrounds.

Thankfully, I met my now Ph.D. advisor, Dr. Emily Cooperdock, who views DEI as an integral part of her work and purposely recruits students who are also interested in these efforts. She has always encouraged me to pursue DEI efforts and is a great role model and example of someone actively working to make the geosciences more inclusive and equitable while also excelling as a scientist. She taught the first-ever DEI seminar in the earth sciences department at the University of Southern California, from which I gained so much knowledge, awareness, and perspective. My final project for the seminar was complementary to the work of another student, Thom Luckie. Emily encouraged and facilitated collaboration between us, which resulted in the work I presented at GSA and we are currently working on a publication. Emily gave us the time and support to do this work since she recognizes the value in it. She motivated me to give an oral presentation at GSA, despite my fear of public speaking, and I am so glad she did.

Attending and presenting at GSA Connects 2021 as an OTF scholar was an incredible experience that has reignited my passion for the geosciences. It helped me realize that so many people are doing incredible DEI work all over the country and are genuinely interested in pivoting the field toward a more inclusive and equitable future. It was also evident to me that GSA does care and does give DEI initiatives and research the importance and respect they deserve. I also had the pleasure of meeting a Latina geoscientist faculty for the first time, Dr. Elena Miranda, who I respect and admire. Her impactful talk was titled “The Leaky Pipeline Playbook: A Critical Look at Gatekeeping Methods That Perpetuate the Disenfranchisement of Women and People of Color in the Geosciences and Some Strategies for Interrupting the Effectiveness of the Playbook Moves.” It was invigorating to witness her strength as she shared the discrimination and barriers she experienced as a graduate student and faculty member in such a raw, non-bureaucratic way. She also outlined tangible strategies to create real change at the institutional level that target the cause, not the symptoms.

At a time when the amount of progress to be done feels insurmountable and change seems to move at glacial speed, these experiences at GSA were encouraging. They gave me hope and made me realize that thanks to advocacy from people like Dr. Miranda, my advisor, and many others, I may not have to suffer as much discrimination and trauma if I pursue an academic career in the geosciences as many people from historically excluded groups before me have. I left the GSA conference feeling more empowered to become an agent of change. Thank you, GSA, OTF organizers, and everyone doing their part to create a more equitable future for the geosciences. Even if you feel like your work is undermined or undervalued in your department or organization, please do not give up!