Hands-on Learning and Research

Transcript

Okay, next, let’s catch up with Chloe, which is not easy at all. Because this senior geology major is often out and about doing field work in the local mountains and canyons. In fact, she just got back from the Grand Canyon. Now she’s up in Logan Canyon, about 10 minutes from campus, to talk to us about the hands-on research and activities at Utah State. Chloe, you are on.

– Hi, everyone! I’m here to talk to you today about my hands-on learning and research experience here at Utah State. People always ask me why I decided to be a geologist. And the classic answer is, I love to be outside. Utah is an amazing state, because there is so much to do and it is so diverse. There are mountain forest here in Northern Utah where you can go kayaking, caving, hiking and biking, but there are also beautiful desert landscapes to the south, where you can go canyoneering, rock crawling, and so much more. But the real reason that I love geology is a little more poetic than just being outside. I love storytelling and being able to understand geology is like knowing a secret language about our world. I also love archeology, because it’s just like geology, but for people. Being in the geoscience department has given me so much opportunity and experience, from working in various labs, to going on class field trips throughout the year. I’ve been on trips to Topaz Mountain, Yellowstone, The Grand Canyon, and some random fields in Idaho to look at small volcanic features called cinder cones, just to name a few. All courses have corresponding labs where we get to practice our field skills, such as using geologic compasses called Bruntons, and taking scientific field notes. We also work a lot with microscopes, where we analyze individual mineral grains, which is called petrology. Rocks and minerals really put on a show underneath microscopes. Now, not everybody in my department is a nature guy, and we have several impressive labs where students spend a lot of time. I have been lucky enough to work in a lot of these labs, such as our Optically Stimulated Luminescence Lab, which we call OSF. We also have state-of-the-art equipment in our chemical labs such as our inductively coupled plasma and x-ray fluorescent machinery. One of my favorite hands on activities is our Rock and Fossil Day, where we offer tons of free and informational activities for the public. Every professor makes a presentation, whether it’s a talk on the Pleistocene on Lake Bonneville, which left footprints on our valley, or demonstrating how stream systems work. Not only is this event informational, but it’s also fun. We have tons of kids activities such as Pangea puzzles, tours of our in-house museum, and free dinosaur cookies. I mean, who doesn’t love free dinosaur cookies? Well, it’s all we have time for today. But if you do end up at Utah State, make sure to join the geology club so you can get a taste of the beautiful outdoors right here. What’s next, Alex?

– Chloe, it sounds like this is the best possible place for you to combine your love for the outdoors with incredible research activities, and learn all these techniques and new technology. Get back out there and keep listening to those stories the rocks are telling you. Thanks again.