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Field Trip Memories

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Our Petrology class field trip happened to fall on about the coldest day of the 2000-2001 winter. The daytime high was something like 6 degrees F. Dr. Swope was adamant that we go. Geology students are tough. They can take the cold...and its hard to reschedule. So cancelling was unlikely. We had also gotten about 3 inches of new snow the night before the trip, which makes rock hunting interesting. We piled into two EAS vehicles all wielding wisk windshield brooms. The trip was to one of the gravel pits south of Lafayette. At the site we were supposed to find a cobble to bring back to campus for thin sectioning. The brooms were used to brush the snow off the rock piles so we could view the potential selection. Having reliable vehicles for that trip was a good thing.
Submitted by Nick Jokay

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I have many stories about my field research experience. One was a time in 1995 when a terrible blizzard befell northern Indiana, and all of the roads were closed. However, being the committed and dedicated student I was, I set forth up 52 to find nothing but white, and the tips of vehicles sticking out of the snow. I managed to barely turn around on the way to a boulder site in Rensselaer, and got home safely. Another similar winter field experience involved me driving to northern Indiana to chip off samples from a puddingstone in the middle of a field. The temperature had dropped to -35C, and I recall that school was closed. I nearly froze to death out there in that field, and when I finally returned home I hopped in the tub to attempt to warm up. No amount of hot water would suffice...I recall that I also used the vehicles in outreach which involved collection of samples from all over Indiana, on recommendations from Indiana residents.

A Geologist needs field experience, and the most valuable experiences were in the field at sites such as Sulphur Indiana, Cumberland Gap, and Vulcan Quarry. The vehicles were absolutely vital to the learning expereince. A Geoscience department without a vehicle probably cannot exist.
Submitted by Melanie McQuinn