T174 Field and Research Experiences for Students at Two-Year Colleges

Tuesday, 4 November 2003
3:30 PM - 5:30 PM

A NON-CONVENTIONAL PLOY TO PROMOTE GEOLOGY IN A COMMUNITY COLLEGE SETTING

Paper number: T174-3
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 4:00 PM – 4:15 PM

Authors

  • Bruce Stinchcomb Presenting Author
    St. Louis Community College at Florissant Valley, St. Louis, MO

Abstract

My intense interest in field geology and the outdoors lead to the formation of the Outdoor Club at St Louis Community College, shortly after joining the college in 1970. Canoe trips, hiking and backpacking trips, primarly in the Ozark Uplift of Missouri and Arkansas attracted (and attracts) art, history and other "non scientifically oriented" students. Club members camping opposite a 300 foot bluff can easily be introduced into geology in a manner which is both attractive and relevant to them. Many such students, who otherwise would not have taken a geology course, become interested. They then take our courses and some even decide to become geology majors.

Outdoor Club trips in the extensive Cambrian and Lower Ordovician outcrop areas of the ozarks allowed my students and me to locate "pockets" of Cambrian fossils in the ubiquitous chert of the Ozarks. Paleontological publications on Cambrian mollusks in the Journal of Paleontology were (and are) aided by specimens collected on these trips. This type of field work enabled me to "kill two birds with one stone" and provide both receptive field experences to numerous students as well as provide material for paleontological publications.

I will present a lighthearted video montage showcasing thirty years of Outdoor Club field experiences.