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Summer Field Camp Information

General

It is best to take field camp after you have taken your core geology classes, especially including structural geology. Many take field camp in the summer after they have complted their senior year.

We do not offer a summer field program. Instead of signing up for GEOL 1960 here at Pitt, you enroll in one of the many programs offered by other universities around the country and transfer in the credits. Attendance at any accredited geologic field camp yielding at least 4 semester units of credit is acceptable.

There are many field courses out there. Some emphasize environmental geology projects more than others, some take 4 weeks while others last 8, and there are variations in cost, camping in tents versus luxury cabins, and whether you drive to the field site in vans or fly out to the field site. While there is a comprehensive list of field camps available in the departmental office, the short list at the end of this page reflects field camps that Pitt undergraduates have participated in and liked. Please feel free to look into other field camps and tell me about the good ones!

NOTE: If your field camp ends shortly before you intend to graduate, be sure to bring back a letter certifying that you got a C or better. This way we don't have to worry about the transfer of credits taking too long and I can easily sign off on your graduation.

Summer Field Camps and Scholarships:

Two scholarships exist to help defray the costs of field camp:

1. The departmental Flint Field Geology Fund was established to commemorate Dr. Norman Flint's devotion to teaching and field work. Funds are awarded on the basis of both merit and financial need. To apply for this scholarship, you need to submit a college transcript and a letter of application to

Dr. William Harbert, Chair
Department of Geology and Planetary Science
200 S.R.C.C.
University of Pittsburgh

The letter should outline your past achievements (academic, good departmental citizenship, etc.), your general post-graduate career goals, the nature of the field work undertaken in your selected field camp, its total cost, and a general indication of your financial need.

The deadline for applications is on or around the Ides of March.

2. The National Association of Geology Teachers (NAGT) has a Summer Field Scholarship program that awards up to $500 to cover the expences of field camp. I believe that this money is awarded solely on the basis of merit (about 1/3 of applicants get money). Follow the link for application information:

NAGT Summer Field Scholarship Program

The deadline for this scholarship tends to be in February.

List of Field Camps Attended by Past Pitt Undergraduates

This field camps on this list are not necessarily any better or worse than those not on the list. I just had to start somewhere. Please look into other field camps and let me know what you find.

Most of the camps are held out west where the exposures are far better than the vegetated and weathered east. Make a note of the relative costs, credit hours offered, the diversity of rocks and structures seen, types of mapping, data collection, report writing (an essential and valuable skill) and other field trip activities and experiences. Some may be interested in such things as whether you will be living in established cabins (wimps) or camping in tents (the only way to go).

Appalachian State University (costs extra, but goes to Italy! )

Eastern Illinois University (described as 'cheap and awesome')

Indiana University (Bloomington)

Lehigh University (Bethlham, PA)

State University of New York at Buffalo (spaces fill in December!)

University of Alaska (Fairbanks)

University of Missouri at Rolla

University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia)

You can easily find out about more field camps by using the list in the office to see which universities have field camps and using the following link to get to the appropriate home page:

List of all geology departments in the U.S. and Canada


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