Into the FieldNewsletter of the Universityof South Florida GeologyField School

USF Geology Alumni SocietyInto the Field

Fall, 2015

Dr. Mark Stewart retired in May 2014, after co-teaching the Hydrogeology and Ecohydrology FieldSchool sessions since Summer 2004. Congratula-tions Mark! Your contributions to USF students andto our department are immeasurable!

In the Spotlight: Changes in the 2015Hydrogeology Session

The 2015 Hydrogeology and Ecohydrology FieldCamp was a year of transition and growth. FromSummer 2004–Summer 2013, the course hadbeen taught by Drs. Mark Stewart and Mark Rains,the new Chair of the School of Geosciences. Du-ties were equally split, with Dr. Stewart focusingon hydrogeology and Dr. Rains focusing on ecohy-drology. The students greatly benefited from thisdivision of duties, especially from Dr. Stewart’svast knowledge and experience on the hydrogeol-ogy and, to a lesser but nevertheless important ex-tent, the ecohydrology of Florida.

Dr. Stewart’s retirement left a huge gap, onethat simply could not possibly be filled. Therefore,Dr. Rains and colleagues decided not to fill thatgap but, rather, to change the course to reflect newstrengths and new dimensions. These changesalso reflect changing demands on our graduates!Beginning in Summer 2015, the course is now be-ing taught by Drs. Mark Rains and Kai Rains. Du-ties will still be equally split, but Dr. M. Rains willnow focus on hydrogeology and ecohydrology andDr. K. Rains will now focus on hydrology, soils, andvegetation, especially in regards to wetland envi-ronments. This subtle shift requires that materialbe streamlined, a process that began in Summer2015 and that will continue in the years to come.

Dr. Mark Rains, new Chair of the School of Geo-sciences, demonstrates how to install a tempo-rary drive-point piezometer for measuring hydraulichead and collecting groundwater samples.

These new dimensions challenge students. InFlorida, most hydrogeology has a surface-water

and/or surficial aquifer dimension, which meansthat hydrogeology has important implications for

USF Geology Alumni SocietyInto the Field

Fall, 2015

the natural environment. Students are not alto-gether prepared for that, with little coursework inthe biological sciences. They are somewhat sur-prised in Hydrogeology and Ecohydrology FieldCamp when exercises connect hydrogeology con-cepts (e.g., groundwater flows) to ecology con-cepts (e.g., groundwater support of wetland envi-ronments).

Increasingly, hydrogeology and ecohydrologyare done by acquiring and analyzing data throughweb portals. Precipitation, evapotranspiration,streamflow, lake water levels, and groundwater lev-els are all variously available for download and use.The Field Session is adding these types of anal-yses to existing exercises, such as the hydrogeo-logic investigation of the USF GeoPark. Towardsthose ends, the USF Water Institute is a usefulresource, because students can access many ofthese data for this region through their Water Atlasclearinghouse web portal.

This Field School session benefits from an in-credible amount of support from alumni and otherfriends of the School of Geosciences. From an or-ganizational standpoint, participation comes fromthe U.S. Geological Survey, the National Park Ser-vice, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the De-partment of Environmental Protection, the South-west Florida Water Management District, the SouthFlorida Water Management District, and the Crys-tal Springs Reserve, to name a few. Many of theseare recurring – for example, Jason Bellino, a doublealumnus with a B.S. in Environmental Science andPolicy and an M.S. in Geology, now works for theU.S. Geological Survey and enjoys returning ev-ery year to teach streamflow measurement. Oth-ers are periodic or in alternate years, as we keepthe course changing to meet the changing times.Regardless, the students benefit from these inter-actions because they get an opportunity to see andsometimes help solve real-world problems, the very

types of problems they’ll likely be paid to solve upontheir graduation.

Field School Updates:

• Five sessions were offered in 2015. Thiswill be expanded to 8 sessions in 2016 tooffer more flexibility to more students

• The Geoalumni and faculty have proposedto begin raising funds for construction of aUSF field station in the western US. Theyhave prepared a proposal and are await-ing approval to get started from the USFBoard of Trustees.

• Dr. Kai Rains joined the HydrogeologyField School Faculty for the first time in2015. Welcome Kai!

• Danny Lindsay and Chuck Connor cre-ated a laser-plane table exercise in the vol-cano mapping session, allowing studentsto map geology and topography simultane-ously using a TruPulse laser with range of∼ 500 m. For those who remember planetable and alidade, laser-plane table is sim-ilar – with no need for a rodman since thelaser light reflects off almost any naturalfeature.

With the USF School of Geosciences Field Sta-tion fast becoming a very real possibility, Dr. Rainshas begun to anticipate moving the Hydrogeologyand Ecohydrology Field Camp out west. “If we havethe opportunity to take our students west, then wecould add yet another dimension, because thereare excellent opportunities in the west to teach flu-vial geomorphology, including sediment transportand deposition and associated channel morphol-ogy. This would require that we once again stream-line the existing material to create time for the newmaterial, but doing so would greatly benefit the stu-

dents by adding a new dimension to their FieldCamp experience", says Dr. Rains.

Dr. Rains is reflective on his time co-teaching

USF Geology Alumni SocietyInto the Field

Fall, 2015

the field school with Dr. Stewart. “He was the bestmentor I ever had, the best mentor I could everimagine. He has an incredibly deep understandingof the hydrogeology of Florida, and yet also a sur-prisingly broad of understanding of so much more,from climate change, to forest ecology, to corvid be-havior, and more. There almost isn’t a topic aboutwhich he doesn’t know something, and about whichhe couldn’t hold an interesting conversation. Ourstudents were truly fortunate to have had the op-portunity to grow and work alongside him all dayand every day for a period of two weeks. Manyhave returned to express their appreciation for thatexperience."

Volcano mapping students use a laser and planetable to map topography and geology along theLost River. Thanks to UNAVCO for lending threeof the lasers for use by our students!

Sam Upchurch on the Importance ofField Camp

Sam Upchurch at the Vulcan mine – photo by Chen

“I don’t think I have ever spoken with a fellow ge-ologist who did not state that field camp was thebest experience they had as a geology major. Fieldcamp provides an opportunity to develop the twoskills that are virtually unique to our science: three-dimensional thinking and understanding deep time.It is especially important that geology majors inFlorida enroll in and actively embrace field campbecause the geology of Florida is so limited interms of the scale and scope of earth science.In order to develop the professional skills neces-sary to conduct field work and understand three-dimensional concepts and deep time, one must seemany different types of rocks in a variety of set-tings. One must stand on an outcrop and debateits origins and implications. One must collect anddescribe rocks, and develop the confidence to in-terpret their origins.

My field camp experience was through on-the-

job training. I started work with the Tennessee Di-vision of Geology as a freshman in college. I was

USF Geology Alumni SocietyInto the Field

Fall, 2015

paid $1/hour to wash and archive oil-well test cut-tings. Working with several of the geologists at thesurvey, I learned the rocks of Tennessee. By thetime I was a junior in college, I was being paid toaccompany a professor at Vanderbilt as his field as-sistant during the school season and mapping ge-ological quadrangles in the summer. The mappingwas delightful. I would drive every road and trail ina quadrangle, climbing hills and noting geologicalformations and structures off road. One summer,I would park my car in the Cumberland Mountainson Monday and backpack on long treks until Friday.Several of my maps were published by the survey,and I was given credit for field camp for admissionto graduate school. Even so, when I got to grad-uate school, I discovered that my experience waslimited and that there were basic skills that I didnot know. So, I got my field camp experience as agraduate student. My point is, undergraduates, getyour field experience, when you have time to enjoyit and learn in the context of your course work.

USF has a wonderful field camp program thatmeets the goals I am suggesting, and it is gettingbetter and more comprehensive every year. I amhonored to have my name associated with the en-dowment USF is using to assist undergraduates toattend field camp. I urge everyone to support USF’splans to expand the field camp experience and as-sist students to attend. Please contribute to thefield camp fund and support USF’s growth plans."

–Sam Upchurch, Fall, 2015

From the Lab Manager

Danny Lindsay says the best part of being theTeaching Laboratory Manager for the School ofGeosciences is his role as the Coordinator for theSummer Geology Field Camps. His experiencewith USF field camps started when he took theclasses in 2013. He enjoyed them so much, he

decided to stay at USF and take on the role of fieldschool coordinator.

By the Numbers:

• In 2015, there were 37 students and 101total seats (some took 1 session, some 2or more)

• 5 field sessions were taught: Hydrogeol-ogy, Coastal Sedimentology, Geophysics,Structure Mapping, Volcano Mapping

• Total field camp expenses were $58,091

• The College of Arts and Sciences con-tributed $13,000 to defray student ex-penses

• The Sam Upchurch Fund gave $6,434 perseat, so alumni donations reduced costsfor field school students by $193 – thanksto Sam and numerous other donors. Wow!

• $33,485 – the Field School Endowmentbalance as of Dec. 1, 2015 - -thanks togenerous donations from Dorien McGeeand many other donors. Wow again!

Danny’s logistical planning for the field campsstarts immediately after the current summer fieldcamps are complete, and sometimes before. Inthe preliminary stages, he locates accommoda-tions and makes reservations for up to 50 peopleat a time. Some of the trips require tent camping(his favorite) and some are in lodge-type facilities.He always searches for affordable facilities with theappropriate amenities for students and great loca-tions for the classes. You can imagine the caravanit takes to move 50 people, all of their clothing, allof their camping gear, field equipment, and enoughfood to feed the army. He also helps with plan-ning the menus, grocery shopping, and preparingthe meals. Long field days produce hefty appetites.

A big part of Danny’s summer is spent travelingwith the field camps. While traveling, his main goals

USF Geology Alumni SocietyInto the Field

Fall, 2015

are to maintain safety, direct efficient logistics, andassist with teaching duties. His favorite part of thejob is traveling with the students and helping themto be successful with their projects while enjoyingthe magnificent geology around them.

In 2015 Geophysics session surveyed targets along theBorah Peak fault, including using resistivity gear bor-rowed from Mike Wightman (President of the GAS) andGeoView. Thanks Mike!

“Field camp was the most incredible geology expe-rience exceeding my expectations in every way. Learn-ing from very knowledgeable and passionate scientists;

I was completely star struck! I can only hope to emulatethem some day soon." – Myra Santiago, 2015

“I learned so much in our hydrology field camp thispast summer. There’s things you have to physically goout and do to fully understand, and geology is one ofthem." – Krista Gutierrez, 2015

Nick Bordieri mapping in the rain near Mackay, Idaho, inthe August 2015 mapping session.

Support the USF Geology Field School!

Your donations are incredibly important to the USF students. There are three ways to financiallycontribute to the Geology Field School:

• Contribute to the Sam Upchurch Fund, which directly reduces the annual operating expenses ofthe field school and reduces costs to students.

• Contribute to the Field School Endowment to ensure the long-term sustainability of our FieldSchool.

• Join us at the 27 Feb, 2016 GAS Banquet and make a donation in support of the Field School.

Donating is easy! Contact Linda Breen (lmbreen@usf.edu) in the College of Arts and Sciences