^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ AWG E-MAIL NEWS 2002-5 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ CONTENTS 1) AGI LAUNCHES NEW WEBSITE 2) NOMINATIONS REQUESTED FOR 2002 OUTSTANDING EDUCATOR AWARD 3) CALIFORNIA COUNCIL OF GEOSCIENCE ORGANIZATIONS FUNDRAISING DINNER 4) IN OHIO SCHOOL HEARING, A NEW THEORY WILL SEEK A PLACE ALONGSIDE EVOLUTION 5) PUTTING THE AAUP'S FAMILY-FRIENDLY POLICIES INTO PRACTICE 6) OCCUPATIONAL BRIEF REVIEWER REQUEST 7) NEW JOURNAL ANNOUNCEMENT 8) GSA GEOSCIENCE EDUCATION DIVISION REQUEST FOR NEWS 02 02 9) FOR NE SECTION FOLKS 10) SCEC AND IRIS SEEK FACULTY/STUDENT TEAMS 11) SUMMER FIELD PALEO. OPPORTUNITIES 12) CONTACT INFORMATION ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Thanks to everyone who contributed to this issue of E-mail News *** Some of you have not been receiving recent issues of e-mail news. My sincere apologies to all those concerned. Hopefully I now have the problem under control, but if it persists, please let me know by contacting editor@awg.org. *** LAM ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 1) AGI Launches Web Site Providing Free Information on Geoscience Careers and Employers ALEXANDRIA,VA - This week, the American Geological Institute (AGI) launched a new web site highlighting information on all aspects of geoscience employment. This free publication, Guide to Geoscience Careers and Employers, is accessible online at http://guide.agiweb.org. The Guide presents information on choosing, maintaining, and advancing a career specifically in the geosciences and provides useful geoscience-employer information that students need in order to find geoscience employment. It is designed as a "living" document - one that will be updated and expanded as new information becomes available. "This web site is a valuable resource for students, geoscience departments, and career centers," says Dr. Marcus E. Milling, AGI's Executive Director. "In today's rapidly changing world, knowledge of real-life work experiences and current workforce patterns are vital for anyone wanting to make informed educational and career choices." The Guide's overview provides a summary of past and projected geoscience job markets, trends in college enrollments and degrees, employment trends and statistics, and job-hunting hints and strategies. Six employer categories are featured: oil and gas industry, mining industry, consulting firms in water resources and the environment, federal and state government agencies, national laboratories, and K-12 education. For each of these sectors, an experienced professional provides insight into employment trends, skills needed, and future directions applicable to that employment category. Also included are profiles of major companies and agencies, along with contact information, job descriptions, the recruiting process, and summer internship opportunities. A companion publication, the free Guide to Geoscience Departments, can also be accessed from this site. This web-based guide lists detailed information on almost 200 college and university geoscience departments, including contact information, admission procedures, degree requirements, financial information (including housing), available financial assistance, field-camp information, research and support facilities (computers, labs, libraries), faculty teaching and research specialties, department geoscience specialties, and historical enrollment and degree data. The American Geological Institute is a nonprofit federation of 39 geoscientific and professional associations that represent more than 120,000 geologists, geophysicists, and other earth scientists. Founded in 1948, AGI provides information services to geoscientists, serves as a voice of shared interests in our profession, plays a major role in strengthening geoscience education, and strives to increase public awareness of the vital role the geosciences play in mankind's use of resources and interaction with the environment. More information about AGI can be found at http://www.agiweb.org. The Institute also provides a public-outreach web site, http://www.earthscienceworld.org. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 2) Nominations Requested for 2002 AWG Outstanding Educator Award The Association for Women Geoscientists (AWG) established the Outstanding Educator Award in 1988 to honor well-established college or university teachers who have played a significant role in the education and support of women geoscientists both within and outside the classroom. Examples of support include encouraging women to enter and continue in a geoscience career, providing opportunities for field and laboratory experience, and serving as a positive role model. In addition, awardees are selected on the basis of their contributions as professionals, involvement with professional societies or groups, and/ or participation in science education programs in their community. Deadline for nominations is 1 April 2002. Nominations must include the nominator's supporting letter, a summary of the nominees' academic and professional accomplishments (a curriculum vitae is desirable if available), and at least six letters of recommendation from professional colleagues, former students, and current students. Send nominations to the Chair of the OEA award selection committee: Suzanne O'Connell Interdisciplinary Science Center Trinity College 300 Summit Street Hartford, CT 06106 Telephone (860) 297-5189 Fax (860) 297-5129 E-Mail: suzanne.oconnell@trincoll.edu The AWGF presents the award at the AWG Breakfast held during the annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America. Previous recipients are Maria Luisa Crawford (1988), Sharon Mosher (1990); Laurie Brown (1991), the late Marie Morisawa (1992), Margaret Delaney (1993), B. Charlotte Schreiber (1994) , Mary Savina (1995), Linda Abriola (1996), Lisa Pratt (1997), Jan Tullis (1998), Pamela Hallock Muller (1999), Suzanne O'Connell (2000), and Judith Schiebout (2001). ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 3) CALIFORNIA COUNCIL OF GEOSCIENCE ORGANIZATIONS FUNDRAISING DINNER Cosponsored by Association of Engineering Geologists Southern California Section Tuesday April 9, 2002 “Realism in volcano hazard zonation: Does geo-engineering help provide a more accurate assessment?” Dr. Bob Watters University of Nevada, Reno Significant rock strength reductions, as a result of weathering processes, often result in slope instability. The strength reduction caused by hydrothermal alteration is not well documented or understood. Economic geologists have long recognized the relationship between alteration and mineralization, but only recently has this relationship been correlated with rock strength and applied to surface and underground mining or construction excavations. Extrapolating the concepts of engineering slope design to the volcano environment shows potential for improving assessments of the hazard of sector collapse and subsequent catastrophic rock avalanche or lahar. Dr. Bob Watters obtained his Ph.D. in Engineering Geology from Imperial College. He is a Professionally Registered Engineer in both geological and civil engineering and was the AEG-GSA Richard H. Jahns Distinguished Lecturer for 2000-2001. DINNER ARRANGEMENTS Date: Tuesday, April 9, 2002 Location: Stevens Steak House, 5332 Stevens Place, Commerce, CA (Off the 5 freeway at Atlantic Boulevard) (323) 723-9856 Time: Social 5:30 p.m.; Dinner and announcements 6:45 p.m.; Presentation 8:00 p.m. Reservations: Call (949) 253-5924 ext. 564 by 5:00 p.m., Friday, April 5. Cost: $30 per person with advance reservations, $35 at the door, and $15 for students with valid I.D. “No-shows” will be billed $10.00. Exhibits: CCGO member organizations and member businesses are invited to set up display tables to publicize their activities. Contact Betsy Mathieson, emathieson@exponent.com, by March 22 to make exhibit arrangements. Proceeds benefit the California Council of Geoscience Organizations http://www.ccgo.org ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 4) IN OHIO SCHOOL HEARING, A NEW THEORY WILL SEEK A PLACE ALONGSIDE EVOLUTION By FRANCIS X. CLINES COLUMBUS, Ohio, Feb. 4 - The latest challenge to evolution's primacy in the nation's classrooms - the theory of intelligent design, not the old foe creationism - will get a full- scale hearing next month before Ohio Board of Education members, who are in a heated debate over whether established science censors other views about the origins of life. "It's a stacked deck," said Deborah Owens-Fink, a state school board member and an outspoken supporter of the intelligent design movement. Supporters of this theory acknowledge that the earth is billions of years old, not thousands, as a literal reading of the Bible suggests. They also accept that organisms change over time, according to commonly held principles of evolution. But they dispute the idea that the astounding complexity of the earth's plants and animals could have just happened through natural selection, the force that Darwin suggested drives evolution. An intelligent designer - perhaps the God of Genesis, perhaps someone or something else - had to get the ball rolling, they contend. "This is not a fringe movement," said Ms. Owens-Fink, a marketing professor at the University of Akron. "I find it intellectually intriguing." She spoke as a member of a state school board subcommittee with a five-member majority that favors inserting intelligent design alongside evolution in the state's new teaching standards. Such an order would overrule a draft proposal by a 45-member advisory panel of science teachers. If the full 18-member state board upholds it, it would be the first major victory for the intelligent design movement, which has gained attention in recent years as creationists suffered setbacks in court. Critics say it would make Ohio a laughingstock to rival Kansas, where school board members voted in 1999 to delete evolution from the state's recommended science curriculum and standardized tests. The board was eventually turned out by voters and evolution was restored. Opponents of intelligent design view it as a sophisticated variation on the decades-old effort to force theism into the public schools. "It's a shrouded way of bringing religion into the schools," said Martha W. Wise, a state board member who is the lone opponent of intelligent design on the standards subcommittee. "Personally I'm creationist: I believe in God the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth," said Ms. Wise, a retired business executive. She emphasized, however, that her belief had no place in a science lesson. "I think intelligent design is a theology, and it belongs in another curriculum." The board's science standards subcommittee has scheduled a hearing next month for a debate on intelligent design. Its proponents insist that eons of evolutionary fact should not be dismissed, but simply supplemented with what they call origins science, defined as the study of intelligent causes that are empirically detectable in nature. "There would be a major revolt in Ohio if that were accepted," said Lynn E. Elfner, a member of the board's science advisory panel and chief executive of the Ohio Academy of Science, a nonprofit professional organization of 1,500 members. Mr. Elfner said intelligent design was a political movement dressed in scientific jargon presenting "the old seductive argument" of being fair to both sides. "But it doesn't play well in science if the other side is not a science," he said. The subcommittee majority's favorable view toward the movement was made clear last month at a meeting in which it gave John H. Calvert, a Kansas City lawyer who is co- founder of the Intelligent Design Network, 30 minutes to speak without giving evolution supporters an opportunity for rebuttal. Mr. Calvert called on Ohio to establish "a level playing field" by having science teachers suggest in classes that "a mind or some form of intelligence is necessary to produce life and its diversity." Evolutionary science is elitist and unfairly "inhibits theism," he said. Board members met here this week to hear a detailed briefing from Dr. David L. Haury, associate professor of science education at Ohio State University. Dr. Haury told them that a theory, by definition, was one of the strongest statements science can make - something rigorously tested across years of experiment and peer review. While many scientists "admit to a greater reality" beyond their discipline, this hardly undermines evolution, he said. "Science has no statement to make beyond the natural world," Dr. Haury said. "Intelligent design is about how things got started. Evolution is about how they change across time." Board members firmly disagreed with him that the distinction was critical. "Well-credentialed scientists think it should be part of the debate," Mike Cochran, a member and lawyer, said of intelligent design. Supporters of intelligent design claim the support of various academics and scientists, including Dr. Michael J. Behe, a biology professor at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, who set out the theory in his book "Darwin's Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution." He argued that various biochemical structures in cells could not have been built step by Darwinian step. But critics say that testing, not credentials, must ultimately verify any scientist's new claim. "Intelligent design is a repackaging of the antievolution movement to try to withstand court challenges by avoiding the C-word," said Dr. Eugenie Scott, executive director of the National Center for Science Education in Oakland, Calif., which promotes the teaching of evolution. Dr. Scott said that some scientists may have interesting antievolution theses still to be tested and proved but in the meantime they should not be used to force quasi-religious theories on science students. "Intelligent design is distinctly not ready for prime time," she said. New York Times ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 5) PUTTING THE AAUP'S FAMILY-FRIENDLY POLICIES INTO PRACTICE By JOAN WILLIAMS In 1986 my institution made no provision for pregnant professors. So the semester my daughter was due, I took a leave without pay. Because I was on leave, my institution stopped paying my benefits. The money from my six weeks' disability pay did not even cover the cost of my health insurance. And I paid in other ways too: The semester did not count toward the time I had to accrue on the job in order to earn a sabbatical, although I wrote a law review article during my leave that resulted in visiting offers from Harvard and two other top-ranked universities. My daughter is now 15, and campus policies toward new parents have changed some -- but not enough. They could change a lot more if colleges and universities would follow the new "Statement of Principles on Family Responsibilities and Academic Work," adopted in November by the American Association of University Professors -- the AAUP's first major foray into work/life issues in more than a quarter of a century. The news coverage of the new policy focused largely on its recommendation for stopping the tenure clock. While that's important, arguably it's less important than the innovative "active service/modified duties" proposal, which thus far has received little or no attention. I'll discuss both, and then talk about the important issue of actually putting these measures into practice. Stopping the clock The new AAUP policy extends the association's 1974 recommendation that professors, at their option, should be able to put the tenure process on hold. Now, for the first time, the association has recommended that even parents who do not take a leave of absence should be able to stop the tenure clock for up to one year for each child "if the faculty member (male or female) is a primary or coequal caregiver of newborn or newly adopted children." My own history shows why it's important not to require parents to take a leave -- it may mean losing all work-related benefits, from health insurance to sabbatical credit. But The Chronicle's recent Colloquy discussion about the AAUP policy shows why stopping the tenure clock can be important. One mother wrote that when she adopted a child, she asked for a postponement of her tenure case and "was told by the chair that the university had not worked out all the details yet but that it was possible." During her semester leave, she published an article and submitted two others that were later accepted for publication. Still, she wrote, she was denied tenure. "The reason cited was that my research history was not consistent and that my submitted publications would not count. If I had been given a one-semester extension, I would have had no problems." Academics get understandably apprehensive about the prospect of extending the probationary period, but the stop-the-clock provision is carefully delimited. It can be used only by a primary or coequal caregiver of a newborn or newly adopted child -- and can be used only twice. This is not a slippery slope, but a thoughtful proposal that abandons the stereotype that the ideal academic is someone who commands immunity from child care. Martha West, a professor of law at the University of California at Davis and chairwoman of the AAUP subcommittee that developed the new policy, provided more evidence of the limited nature of stop-the-clock provision. At her institution, she noted, many moremothers preserve their option to stop the tenure clock than ultimately decide to do so. What's important is the option. At institutions that adopt the full panoply of AAUP suggestions, I suspect many caregivers ultimately will not have to stop the tenure clock because they will avail themselves of another AAUP proposal called "active service/modified duties." Active service/modified duties This marks the chief innovation of the AAUP's new policy. Modeled after a similarprovision at the University of California system, the modified-duties measure would provide faculty members with full or partial relief from teaching with no pay cut if requested by a faculty member who has "substantial responsibility" for care of a newborn or newly adopted child under the age of 5. Ms. West brought the idea to the attention of the AAUP subcommittee. "I brought it up because I realized that virtually all mothers take advantage of active service/modified duties, but that very few end up stopping the clock," she said. "In the UC system, it's important to keep going because we don't get any merit raises unless we do scholarship. We can interrupt our teaching without losing progress towards our next merit raise. But not scholarship." In other words, the UC system makes official what we all know: Scholarship is the coin of the realm at research institutions and those that aspire to that status. That's why active service/modified duties is so important. "I believe reducing the workload is much more promising than stopping the clock," said Robert Drago, professor of labor and women's studies at Pennsylvania State University. "I've never seen anyone turned down for tenure because they've done less teaching. But less research will get you turned down every time." Continuing one's research is particularly important in the sciences, where it is often impractical to shut down alab. But even outside the sciences, cutting back on research is often impractical. Maybe research should not be the coin of the realm. But it is. And so long as it remains so, active service/modified duties is vitally important. Putting policies into practice As good as the AAUP recommendations are, they are not self-executing. Institutions must avoid the problem faced by many employers who attempt to implement "family-friendly" policies: good intentions abound, but the policies never translate into practice. Here are some tips for bridging the gap. If an institution tells a candidate that it is stopping the tenure clock, it has the responsibility -- ethically and perhaps legally -- to make sure the clock is, in fact, stopped. Department heads must be trained to ensure that someone who took eight years to complete a seven-year tenure track because she stopped the clock for a year is judged by the standards normally applied to a seventh-year candidate. Why? When people stop the clock to care round-the-clock for an infant they already have a job: caring for the infant. They cannot be expected to do another job, i.e. research; if they are, then professors with infants are required to do two jobs whereas professors without infants are required to do only one. This is not only unfair; given the demography of infant care, in some circumstances it may also be sex discrimination. Stories abound about situations where outside reviewers judge candidates who have stopped the tenure clock as if the clock had never stopped. This is not only unethical, it is unwise from a legal standpoint, for it represents a situation where a job candidate has been misled. To avoid unintentional misrepresentation requires both training of department heads, and clear communication to outside reviewers that failure to use a proper standard may present legal problems for the university that hasrequested their help in evaluating a candidate. Now let me turn to the active service/modified duties proposal. Here's a fact: Allowing someone to cut back on teaching by requiring someone else in the department to teach those courses at no additional pay will not work. That's not the way to implement this idea, it's the way to subvert it. A very simple management principle is this: Do not require anyone to work for free. Instituting a modified-duties policy is not free. The price tag is the cost of an adjunct to cover the teaching duties of the new parent, who can continue to supervisegraduate students and perhaps do some committee work. So the department, if it hires an adjunct, will not have to place a new parent in the situation of triggering resentment by exploiting her colleagues. To make this work will require financial support from the central administration for the hiring of temporary instructors. If implemented correctly, the AAUP policy could be a first step toward broader policies that cover not only child care, but also other family responsibilities such as the care of aging parents and seriously ill partners. The statement of principles is an important first step in acknowledging that, for a limited number of the 20 or 30 years oftheir careers, serious academics may also have serious familial responsibilities. Joan Williams, a professor of law at American University and director ofits Program on Gender, Work & Family, is author of Unbending Gender:Why Family and Work Conflict and What To Do About It (Oxford UniversityPress, 2000). From The Chronicle of Higher Education (http://chronicle.com) This article from The Chronicle is available online at this address: http://chronicle.com/jobs/2002/01/2002012801c.htm ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 6) OCCUPATIONAL BRIEF REVIEWER REQUEST About four years ago, your organization was of great help to our company by taking a moment to review and comment on one of our briefs. The time has come for us to update the material reviewed in 1997. I am coordinating the production of an occupational brief titled Paleontologists. I am asking if you or someone in your organization would be so kind as to review and comment on our publication before it goes into print. If you will consent, please reply with your mailing address or fax # so I may send you the text. We are very grateful for your help in this production and will be glad to reciprocate by sending you up to 50 complimentary copies of the brief. Many thanks, Joy N. Fickeisen Brief Writer Chronicle Guidance Publications 66 Aurora Street P.O. Box 1190 Moravia, NY 13118-1190 www.chronicleguidance.com Joy@chronicleguidance.com Desk: 315 497-0330 X39 Fax: 315 497-3359Toll Free: 800 811-5654 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 7) NEW JOURNAL ANNOUNCEMENT The Soil Science Society of America is publishing a new journal this fall called Vadose Zone Journal. For more information contact: Keith R. Schlesinger Program Coordinator/Advertising and Marketing Manager ASA-CSSA-SSSA 677 South Segoe Road Madison, WI 53711-1086 Phone: (608) 273 8090 x 322 Fax: (608) 273 2021 E-mail: kschlesinger@agronomy.org www.agronomy.org www.crops.org www.soils.org ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 8) GSA GEOSCIENCE EDUCATION DIVISION REQUEST FOR NEWS 02 02 Please send any news you would like to see incorporated in the upcoming Geoscience Education Division newsletter to Mark Hafen , no later than Feb. 22, 2002. We look forward to hearing from you. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 9) FOR NE SECTION FOLKS I’m going to the NE section GSA and have two queries. First, anyone want to share a room? The rates at the Springfield Sheraton(?) are $109 for a single or double and $114 for a triple or quad. If I can’t find a room-mates(s), I’ll stay somewhere other than the convention hotel. Two, is anyone planning a topic of discussion for the AWG b’fast? If you send me ideas, I’ll try to organize it if no one else is. Lois K. Ongley 86 Russell St. Lewiston, ME 04240 207 783 6952 loisongley@earthlink.net ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 10) SCEC AND IRIS SEEK FACULTY/STUDENT TEAMS SCEC and IRIS are requesting applications from Earth science faculty/student teams interested in participating in a project to develop the Electronic Encyclopedia of Earthquakes. The digital library will organize Earth science and engineering information and educational resources about earthquakes. This is an exciting opportunity for faculty and students committed to improving K-12 and college education to be leaders in the development of a nationally-recognized resource, and to gain experience in the rapidly growing field of digital libraries for education. A pictorial explanation of the Encyclopedia is at http://www.scec.org/ecube. Information about compensation, scope of work, etc., is in the complete description. Read the complete description at http://www.scec.org/instanet/02news/education020205.html ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 11) SUMMER FIELD PALEO. OPPORTUNITIES SOUTH DAKOTA SCHOOL OF MINES & TECHNOLOGY > 2002 Summer Museum Field Expeditions > Make this a summer to remember! > Join our Corps of Discovery! > > June 17 to 21 Paleontology for Families - visit the Rapid City area for a > variety of fossil experiences designed for families with young children. > Register for 2 to 5 days during this scheduled session. Field trips to > nearby fossil sites, guided tours through local museums, and opportunities > to dig and prepare fossils in the laboratory may be planned with the > parent(s). Parent(s) must attend with child(ren). Other times may also > be available throughout the Summer as schedules permit. Coordinated by > Dr. Gale Bishop. > > June 17 to 21 Study Geology and Mineralogy of the Black Hills - This > expedition allows you to study the geology and origin of the Back Hills > for the geologic and mineralogic diversity of this "Island in the Plains" > through the study and collection of representative rocks. Coordinated by > Mr. Thomas Campbell. > > July 8 to 19 Join the crew continuing work at the famous Big Pig Dig in > Badlands National Park. Excavate a unique tangle of fossil bones of > animals such as rhinos, horses, deer and pig-like animals in the classic > Oligocene age White River Badlands. Coordinated by Ms. Carrie Herbel. > > July 15 to July 22 Sea Turtle Conservation Program - This expedition, > designed for all grade levels of in-service and pre-service science > teachers (K-12), provides two days of distance learning training, a > seven-day residency on St. Catherines Island (GA) performing a hands-on, > real-world conservation program for threatened loggerhead sea turtles on > a remote coastal Georgia barrier island. Participants must enroll for > college credit. This project is partially funded by the Georgia Eisenhower > Higher Education Program (49%). Coordinated by Dr. Gale Bishop. > > August 5 to 16 Marine Turtles, Mosasaurs and Plesiosaurs from the > Late Cretaceous Western Interior Sea - Join this expedition along the > Missouri River near Chamberlain, South Dakota to search for and help > collect Cretaceous marine reptiles. Mr. David Parris will lead > prospecting and excavation of these fascinating creatures. > > August 12 to 23 Join the crew working at the remote Titanothere > Graveyards Dig in the South Unit of Badlands National Park. Excavate and > help collect a unique group of fossil bones of animals including bones of > titanotheres from the 34 million year-old sediments of the White River > Badlands. Coordinated by Ms. Carrie Herbel. > > FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: > MUSEUM OF GEOLOGY > SOUTH DAKOTA SCHOOL OF MINES & TECHNOLOGY > 501 E. Saint Joseph Street > Rapid City, SD 57701 > 605-394-2467 > 1-800-544-8162 ext. 2467 > museum@sdsmt.edu > http://www.hpcnet.org/sdsmt/geologymuseum > > Field Paleontology is a two-week experience that is designed to introduce > students and interested persons to the procedures of preserving and > documenting fossil discoveries. You may participate for two weeks as a > college course for 2 semester credits or just for the educational > experience with no college credit. We emphasize the fact that fossils are > information so the geologic context of fossils as well as the distribution > of fossils at a given site are meticulously recorded. Although the > program is based in Rapid City, South Dakota, with the Museum of Geology, > each session is taught in the field in places that are of current interest > to research undertaking at the Museum of Geology. Rapid City is > accessible by commercial airlines, buses, and the Interstate system. > > The field sessions are taught at various times of the summer months of > June, July, and August. Our climate is continental in character which > means that it can be quite hot (>40 Celsius) and sometimes bone- chilling > cool. > > Rain is possible but seldom interferes with the work for very long. The > best advice on clothing is to have layers of clothing so that you can be > comfortable from 5 to 40o C. A hat to keep sun off, sunglasses, and > sunscreen are helpful. Other materials necessary include glasses that > protect your eyes while chipping rocks, a rock hammer, a 2-inch wide > natural bristle paintbrush, gloves, a small chisel, and a sharp awl. > Canteen for water on hot days, a camera to record your experience, a > notebook and pen to record observations, and a sense of humor make this a > very rewarding experience. > > Hotel accommodations can be obtained for many of the sessions or camping > is another alternative. Camping is usually done at commercial campgrounds > and food is purchased nearby. A small tent that is capable of > withstanding strong wind and a sleeping bag with a mat to soften the > ground are advisable. Cooking arrangements vary with group leader so you > will know more when you choose a specific course. > > Sessions are two weeks long and begin with meeting in Rapid City unless > other arrangements are made. Your instructor will designate the time and > place to meet. The Museum provides transportation to the research area > and base camp. The first day will be spent with an orientation session > for participants. Thereafter, the group will assemble each morning at a > specified time (different group leaders operate on different schedules) > with all materials necessary to get them through the day, water, lunches, > tools, and notebooks. After a brief review of the goals for that day, the > participants will then drive to the site or area that is being > investigated. > > During the day, breaks may be taken as a group. Lunch is at mid-day, and > we usually wind up at about 4:30 - 5:00 PM before the drive back to camp > or hotel. The exact nature of the day may vary if the goal for the day is > to search out new sites or to spend the day in a quarry working on a > specimen. > > NO PETS are allowed to accompany the participants, and due to insurance > reasons, an adult who must also be a participant must accompany all > persons under the age of 18. > > The Museum accepts payment for the experience by VISA or MasterCard, money > order, cashier's check, or personal check. Payment must be made in full > two weeks before the session starts. Cost is $450.00 for each two- week > session unless taken for college credit. If elected for undergraduate > credit, the course will cost $550. If elected for graduate credit, the > course will cost $650. There is a possibility of modest application fees > being accessed by the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology for > those opting to take the course for credit. Field Paleontology is a > 2-credit course. Please note you may sign up for more than one session. > If you have further questions please write us at the Museum of Geology, > South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Rapid City, SD 57701, or > call 1-800-544-8162 extension 2467. > > NOTICE: Because of the hazardous nature of fieldwork, each student must > be covered by medical insurance. Each student will accept the > responsibility for his/her own deportment and for the deportment of the > group. Neither contraband substances nor firearms will be tolerated. Any > use of alcohol must conform to the laws of the State of South Dakota and > the rules of SDSMT. Any potential student with known or suspected health > problems, which might adversely affect her/his ability to perform under > field conditions, must make arrangements to mitigate such problems before > enrolling. Students may be removed from the program with concurrence of > course faculty if a student proves to be a problem to this program. Only > students registered in the course will be accepted at the site. It is the > student's responsibility to accomplish registration. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 12) CONTACT INFORMATION To submit an item to E-MAIL NEWS contact: editor@awg.org To submit advertising contact: ads@awg.org To change your address or be removed from the list contact: office@awg.org