Science course ventures out

By Dylan Bradley/ne news reporter

Photo courtesy Hayden Chasteen  Students can earn credits in their Geology 2407 and Physical Geography 1301 classes by taking a trip to the Southwest. The trip, which runs May 19-June 8, travels through four states.
Photo courtesy Hayden Chasteen Students can earn credits in their Geology 2407 and Physical Geography 1301 classes by taking a trip to the Southwest. The trip, which runs May 19-June 8, travels through four states.

Students on NE can earn Geology 2407 and Physical Geography 1301 credits by taking a three-week hiking/camping trip through the Southwest.

From May 19-June 8, up to 15 students can travel through New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona and Utah. During this trip, students will get hands-on field geology experience and learn about geological structures and geological processes at work.

“All I can do in class is show pictures and examples,” said geology assistant professor Hayden Chasteen. “When you get out in the field, I can put their hands on things. There’s a place outside of Arches [in Utah], and I make them go over and put their hands on either side of the fault, and then things click,” Chasteen said.

The group will see the Grand Canyon, the Moab Desert, Rocky Mountain National Park, Canyonlands National Park and Red Rocks Amphitheater. The students will also go river rafting.

Weather, climate, geologic cycles, plate tectonics, volcanism, earthquakes, weathering, streams, soils and biomes will be covered throughout the trip. Students should be prepared to keep a daily journal and answer questions, Chasteen said.

“We stop at more than 20 different places,” he said. “The most awe inspiring are usually the Grand Canyon at sunset and the Rocky Mountain National Park.”

Anyone interested in the trip should complete a Colorado Plateau Southern Rocky Mountains Summer Course questionnaire.

The forms can be obtained from Chasteen in NSCE 1104A or from geology instructor David Sallee in NSCE 1103A.

Once the questionnaire is approved, students will be notified, so they can complete registration.

The total field trip fee is $750 before tuition and fees, and $375 will hold a spot. Tuition for the course will be for seven credit hours and a lab fee.

For more information, call Chasteen at 817-515-6694.