UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — If you train your eyes on the vast rock outcroppings of the Rocky Mountains, you can see the remnants of our planet’s history. It’s a span that dwarfs nearly anything earthly, including the 25 years Don Fisher has been surveying these rocks with students during an annual rite of passage for all geosciences majors in the Penn State College of Earth and Mineral Sciences: field camp.
But outside of geological time, it’s quite a feat for the professor of geosciences, who is stepping down as director of field camp after leading the summer learning experience for the past quarter-century.
Since 1998, Fisher has been using these rock outcrops and other areas to show juniors and seniors what they’ve been learning for years in textbooks. They also learn tools they’ll need in the field such as GIS, mapping and geological interpretation. Fisher said they travel west each summer because the drier climate unearths the same forces at play as in Pennsylvania without the biology hiding all that geology.
Fisher took over for David “Duff” Gold, professor emeritus of geosciences, and he said he learned a lot from Gold, an affable jack-of-all-trades scientist who was ever patient with the students.
“He is a great guy,” Fisher said. “He knows a lot about all kinds of different aspects of geology and he loves hanging with the students. He created an environment where field camp was something students looked forward to, and I wanted to continue that.”
Field camp was something that drove Fisher himself into a career as a field geologist. As an undergraduate, he spent several weeks in Scotland. After that, he was hooked.
A day in the field
When Gold ran field camp, it began at Penn State and a van full of students spent two weeks traveling across the country, a bucket list for many even outside the major. But when Fisher took over, he quickly inherited a problem: Field camp was becoming too costly and the time commitment for students was becoming prohibitive.
He trimmed the eight-week program down to six and eventually five weeks, still retaining the bulk of the lessons.
Students visit places such as the Grand Tetons and the Rocky Mountains, traversing four states. Sometimes, they stay in ski resorts offering off-peak deals on summertime slumber or research facilities such as Yellowstone Bighorn Research Association. Other times, such as one location in Idaho, they’re completely off the grid and primitive camping, relying on satellite phones in case of emergencies.
Fisher said it’s in those remote areas where he gets to know best the students he’s already seen in class. And that’s where they get to know each other.
“These are the kinds of things that have been associated with field camp for the past 100 years: sitting around the campfire and talking with each other,” Fisher said. “And I’ve always enjoyed that part.”
Working together in the field, students comb the landscape, completing exercises that often take a few days. One goal, Fisher said, is studying the surface and then trying to surmise what’s happening underneath. It’s a feat he said that’s made much easier thanks to the lack of vegetation.
“In Pennsylvania there are great outcrops, but most of them are associated with road cuts,” Fisher said. “There isn’t a three-dimensional aspect to the exposures that allow you to think in those dimensions, which is an important take home from field camp. Students begin taking maps and cross sections and put together a three-dimensional view of what the Earth is doing. They’re making interpretations of the subsurface.”
Fisher’s impact
In his time, Fisher made his mark on field camp. First, he changed the way it was funded to make it more accessible to all students. He also scrapped for funds to help students with the cost of camping gear and travel.
He brought in experts in the Department of Geosciences to lead their respective lessons. Instead of one faculty member covering a diverse array of topics, lessons were sectioned off so that students could be taught by some of the leading experts in each area. One great example of that was in GIS.
“We’ve had a lot of students who have graduated from Penn State and in their professional lives have found ArcGIS to be a useful skill,” Fisher said.
Fisher also upgraded safety measures to reduce injuries from the demanding terrain, conditions and remoteness of the experience. Field camp faculty developed a safety plan modeled after ExxonMobil’s.
For all that’s changed, Fisher said some aspects of field camp will always stay the same.
“We still go to the same places our alumni from as far back as the '80s will remember,” Fisher said.
Future bright for field camp
Fisher, who may still make an appearance at field camp, leaves the program in capable hands. Roman DiBiase, an associate professor of geosciences who uses tools such as drones and GIS to understand geological changes on the surface, will take the reins.
As he surveys his field camp memories, Fisher said DiBiase has a lot to look forward to. It’s a chance to help students hone their skills ahead of beginning their careers. But it’s also a chance to mentor students, and to share experiences few get to have.
In that, it’s hard for Fisher to pick just one memory that stands out. But the hike to Flagstaff Mountain is one that comes to mind.
“When we get to the top of the mountain, we always take a group photo,” Fisher said. “I think some of my favorite memories are students wanting to get a picture with me there because that happens very late in the trip. At that point, it feels like people are saying goodbye and thank you for the experience, and there’s a feeling like it’s mutual.”