How and why a group of geology faculty at Western are implementing an inclusive and diverse “Lab Camp” to campus
By: Katie Lang
WWU Geology MS Student
The sun shines down on my back unabashedly, mercilessly finding new patches of skin. The day is humid; it’s only 8 am. Thick, clunky boots protect my feet as I shift under the weight of my heavy daypack. The only sounds are birds chirping their morning songs and the scratching of pencils against field books as the professor lectures ahead of the group. We then pack up and move to a new area, fanning out across an open landscape. This repeats for today, and many more days, in many different places.
I am lucky that this is not required for my undergraduate degree (although it is for many), and I have done this voluntarily. I haven’t had to camp the entire time. I have had valuable support from others here. I am luck I am able to do this.
However, not everyone can. And they’ve either left behind this major for something more inclusive or were left behind.
This is field camp in geology.
And it’s got to change.
~ ~ ~
Much like biology, chemistry, or even physics, geology and earth sciences have traditions that are hard to break.
This tradition is not your usual type, like proper lab procedures or submitting academic papers in a timely fashion after your research is concluded, but rather a phenomenon that is almost exclusively unique to geology: Field Camp.
WWU geology field camp from 2018. Photo: https://cse.wwu.edu/geology.
Field camp is a trusty rite of passage a large majority of earth scientists have to do in order to graduate from their alma mater, even if they never do fieldwork again. Field camp ranges from six to eight weeks and requires a lot of participation if one is to get through the two-month experience and enjoy it.
Yet, many geoscientists cite field camp as the most formative experience they have had while learning the basics of geology.
So why has field camp become both problematic and outdated?
Depending on the field camp program the geology student is enrolled in, for six to eight weeks during the summer or spring the students are outside learning about the Earth. This involves varied levels of wilderness camping, hiking, and other physical activities. Cell phone access is just as limited as access to medical centers are in the case of an emergency. On average, there’s more men who attend field camp than women, and the students are much more likely to be white.
Additionally, each field camp comes with a cost; because it’s an intensive two-month experience, the field camp attendees must pay for the multiple college course credits, associated school fees for transportation, all the camping gear (tents, sleeping bags, field boots just to name a few items), and food costs while camping. “Cheap” field camps can be from $3,000 and can range upwards of $7,500 depending on in versus out of state status and international student status.
For certain groups, the realities of attending field camp are daunting. It’s hard to feel comfortable in rough settings where you don’t see people who look like you, act like you, or understand your experiences.
“If you don’t see yourself in pictures of field camps, why would you want to go?” says Kass Ulmer, a current geology graduate student at Western Washington University. Ulmer attended Penn State as an undergraduate and participated in their field camp program in 2017. “There’s currently a huge population of potential geologists who are being excluded from field camps based off of reasons that don’t affect their work.”
“Even if you’re a parent with kids, or a student working full time, or any number of scenarios, field camp assumes you’re a traditional-age college student who has summers off,” explains Dr. Robyn Dahl, an Assistant Professor of Geology at Western, and the project lead for creating WWU’s alternative to field camp. “We need to change the culture of our department and others to add better accessibility and inclusivity.”
Kass Ulmer during her field camp through Penn State in 2017. Photo: Kass Ulmer.
The problem with field camp though, could stem from the fact that most undergraduate universities require a field camp experience in order to fulfill a geology degree. Some universities offer a geology degree without field camp, but would grant a B.A. degree instead of a B.S. degree, which have some students feeling as though they’ve earned a consolation prize or are not as good at their science because of their degree title. Additionally, universities offer geophysics degrees or other specialized geology degrees that don’t require field camp as small steps towards alternatives to the field camp tradition.
Historically, the geosciences have been one of the least diverse branches of the STEM fields. But recently, there’s been a movement inside geoscience education that’s been particularly interested in how to increase diversity and retain students in the geoscientists. This includes all forms of diversity: gender, race, socio-economic status, physical ability, and more.
The lack of diversity easily becomes visible while at field camp, especially for those who: 1) are physically disabled or impaired, 2) are economically unable to afford the full cost of gear and field camp, 3) are non-traditional students, 4) have religious observances that occur during fieldwork (For example: Ramadan which includes fasting), and 5) have major food allergies.
Compared to the traditional demographics that make up a majority of field camp, these students make up only a small number of those who wish to participate in field camp experiences. Yet, there are many different types of disabilities (seen/unseen) or other factors that could cause someone to not be prepared for field camp or to be anxious about camping and hiking for weeks.
So the question then becomes: How does one make future field camp experiences in geology more inclusive and open to people of different backgrounds, faiths, socio-economic status, and physical abilities?
A group of geology faculty at Western have come up with a viable alternative to more traditional field camp experiences, while still integrating key elements that field camp brings to the table. Led by Dr. Robyn Dahl (PI), Dr. Camilo Ponton, Dr. Sean Mulcahy, Dr. Doug Clark, and Dr. Melissa Rice, their solution is called Lab Camp.
The team, which is in the beginning stages of creating modules and other curricula for Lab Camp, believe that this is a positive step towards creating meaningful teaching experiences with a much broader scope than what traditional field camp has to offer. This alternative will provide students with opportunities to learn about geophysical techniques, numerical modeling, LiDAR and remote sensing datasets, GIS programs, analytical geochemistry procedures and more within a classroom setting.
Additionally, the Lab Camp will go out into the field – just on a much more manageable scale for the participants. This includes day trips to roadside outcrops (easily accessible for people with limited mobility), trips to Western’s Shannon Point Marine Center campus to examine coastal processes on land and sea (while staying in the accompanying dorms there), and other day trips near the university that provide excellent field-based teaching opportunities.
“Field based learning is one of the best for students’ attention,” explains Dr. Doug Clark, an Associate Professor of Geology at Western and member of the project. “We need to use real world examples to help promote specific learning outcomes.”
“There are lots of benefits to getting into the field to see things conceptually,” Dahl agrees. “Seeing folds and faults and how they relate to uplift – you can’t pick it out until you see it with your eyes. We also work on a lot of different scales at once in the field, from the macroscale to microscale, that help us give the students training experience, especially the field skills and collaborations necessary for field work.”
The plan is for the Lab Camp to be up and running by the summer of 2020, which is no small feat. Part of the reason why this project is so large in scope is because these professors have to start from scratch to make learning modules effective, engaging, and educational for a number of different students in less than a year.
The Lab Camp effort is just one of many alternatives that are beginning to be put into place at other institutions. One of the most innovative is an Irish field camp sponsored by the International Association for Geoscience Diversity (IAGD), who used every student’s abilities in a group effort to create a holistic, friendly, inclusive, and technologically-forward thinking field camp program. Other “non-traditional” field camps are trying to interest high school students into the geosciences, as well.
The Lab Camp at Western will strive to include more technology during field camp like the IAGD sponsored program. Dahl hopes that this WWU Lab Camp will eventually open up enrollment to students from other institutions, as well. But it is important to note that this field camp is meant for everyone, not just those who may not be able to attend a traditional field camp experience.
“Earth scientists study the earth in all kinds of ways that doesn’t require us to be the traditional idea of what a geologist should look like,” Dahl says. “Our plan is not to treat different populations of students as different. We want to challenge the classic mold of what a geologist is because it doesn’t define who everyone is.”
No one should be made to feel that geology and earth science is not viable for them because of field camp being a potential barrier. Geoscience departments need to reevaluate the ways they structure their field experiences to make them accessible to all.
No one should be left behind. Lab Camp won’t let them.
For any inquiries, contact me at langk4@wwu.edu
