Contact Information
(541) 346-4573
(541) 346-4692 fax
http://www.uoregon.edu/~dogsci
Undergraduate degrees: B.A, B.S.,
Undergraduate Minor
The Department of Geological Sciences provides undergraduates with an understanding of the materials that constitute the Earth and the processes that have shaped the planet from deep in its interior to the surface environment.
Geology in the field: trading in bookbags for backpacks
Each summer, a six-week field camp allows UO geology majors to apply their knowledge to actual work in the field. Students produce geologic maps, sections, and columns, and get an introduction to high-tech surveying techniques using total station and Global Positioning System technology.
“Field camp for geology students is like residency for medical students,” says Ray J. Weldon, associate professor of geology and the head of last year’s field camp. “It tends to be a bonding together and a culminating experience in their geological career.”
In 2003, the first half of camp was held in the central Oregon desert. Students put topographic and geologic lines onto maps to interpret active surficial geologic processes. They also studied active faults, active volcanoes, and the late Pleistocene and Holocene stratigraphic history of the region.
For the second half of camp, the students traveled to the Block Mountain area in southwest Montana for a ten-day session with Research Associate Martin Miller, and then to Mitchell, Oregon, to study with Assistant Professor Becky Dorsey.
“Doing geological mapping in the field on structures that are actively being investigated was a very valuable experience,” said Henry L. Turner, a UO geology major. “It allowed students to get a glimpse of what field research is like.”
The UO’s Field Camp has been quite successful, and Weldon, Miller, and Dorsey have rock-solid hopes for the future. “We’re in the process of trying to evolve it from what is a very traditional geology field camp—which is basically where students go out in the field to get an opportunity to practice some of the skills that they’ve learned in terms of identifying rocks and making maps, things like that—to focus a little bit more on active processes, environmental processes, and surficial processes,” says Weldon.
Points of Interest
- The UO is located astride the Cascadia Subduction Zone—an area of oceanic and continental plate convergence resulting in the volcanic mountains of the Cascade Range. These and other spectacular geological formations make the UO an ideal place to study geology.
- With 70,000 specimens, the Condon Museum, located on the UO campus, is home to the largest collection of fossil vertebrates in the Pacific Northwest.
- Geology majors have the option to participate in a six-week summer program called Structural Geology Field Camp.
- Cascade Hall houses an abundant display of minerals, meteorites and volcanic rock, as well as a large bread crust bomb.
- The department hosts a weekly seminar series where speakers from around the country discuss their current research.