Field Schools

Immerse yourself in our field courses, the most exciting and intensive learning activities offered by our department.

The geology field courses provide opportunities to study rocks and geologic structures where they are best exposed and most easily interpreted. Field exercises include orienteering, mapping surficial deposits, measuring sections in sedimentary rocks, and mapping geologic structures in sedimentary and/or igneous and metamorphic rocks. The hydrogeology and geophysics field courses provide opportunities to collect field data using geotechnical and geophysical equipment, then analyze and interpret the data using mathematical and computational methods. Each field course runs for 12 - 16 days off-campus, in either the late summer before classes begin (August - September) or early spring after classes end (April - May).

Most field sites are located beside or near roads, but some are only accessible by hiking in, often through very rugged terrain. You must be in reasonable physical condition, fully mobile, confident on slopes and in high places, and mentally prepared for working long days outdoors in a variety of environmental conditions, including hot sun, rain or snow, in places like the Canadian Shield, Alberta prairies, Rocky Mountains and deserts of southwest USA.