天美影视传媒

At just past 2 p.m. in early July, the temperature in southwestern Montana is hovering around 93 degrees.

Impervious to the heat, Michael McGroder climbs swiftly up a steep, rocky hill where a group of geology students and teaching assistants from the 天美影视传媒 stand observing two small ridges below.

It鈥檚 their fourth day at Block Mountain, just outside the town of Dillon, and the students are trying to map an area known informally as the Rat鈥檚 Nest. The name is well earned by this giant tangle of rocks: The oldest layers are somehow on top of younger layers, some layers are upside down, and the entire Triassic period (the layer that formed between 251 million and 199 million years ago) is missing in places.

鈥淕eologists love a good murder mystery,鈥� says McGroder, the group鈥檚 instructor 鈥� and making sense of geologic complexities is akin to tracking down the culprit.

Over six weeks, his students tried out their detective skills by mapping, surveying and exploring this slice of Big Sky Country as part of the Department of Earth and Space Sciences鈥� geology field camp. For many of them, it was their first opportunity to practice geology like a professional would.

A landscape made for learning

UW students have been coming to field camp in Dillon for 25 years 鈥� and they鈥檙e not alone. Mud-splattered vans with license plates from West Virginia, Texas and Georgia attest to the area鈥檚 widespread draw.

What brings people here? In this area, erosion has laid bare an astounding 3.2 billion years of Earth history, giving students the opportunity to cut their teeth in geologic settings they鈥檝e only read about before.

鈥淚n the classroom, everything is much more black-and-white,鈥� says field camp participant Ruslan Pavlenko, 鈥�17. 鈥淲hereas here, it鈥檚 all right in front of you, and you鈥檙e able to see the bigger picture.鈥�

Top: Michael Barber (left) and Mary Alice Benson head to the top of a ridge. Bottom left: Joshua Anderson examines a piece of the hillside. Bottom right: Weston Brown (left) and Esten King study a thrust fault 鈥� where one section of land slips over another.

During camp, the UW students work on mapping projects that take them from Dillon in the south to Glacier National Park in the north. Arguably the hardest work is at Block Mountain, where they spend six eight-hour days mapping the large site, including the Rat鈥檚 Nest.

Block Mountain and other areas around Dillon are special for another reason, too: Over the years, geology field camp instructors have honored an informal 鈥済entleman鈥檚 agreement鈥� to never publish research on the sites, explains McGroder. This has left them spoiler-proof for questing students 鈥� a true rarity in the digital age.

Giving back by going outside

McGroder has overseen field camp since 2016, but he鈥檇 been to Dillon long before: As a master鈥檚 candidate at the University of Montana, he was a TA for a field camp in the area and was impressed by its learning opportunities.

He went on to a Ph.D. program in geology at the UW, with Professors Emeritus Jody Bourgeois and Darrel Cowan (who led field camp for its first 23 years) as his advisers.

After earning his Ph.D. in 1988, McGroder spent a long career at ExxonMobil. When he retired a few years ago, he sought a way to give back beyond financial support by sharing his industry knowledge with geology students. When he ran into Cowan at a conference, his former adviser suggested that McGroder try his hand as field camp leader.

While it鈥檚 clear that McGroder makes a lasting impact on his students, being around them has changed him as well. 鈥淚t鈥檚 energizing for me to think back to when I was that age and had epiphanies about what I wanted to do for a career in geoscience,鈥� he says.

McGroder鈥檚 teaching style has also resonated with the group. 鈥淢ike was very hands-off,鈥� says UW senior Allison Nelson. 鈥淏ut if you asked a question, he鈥檇 be very detailed and point you in the right direction. It was great.鈥�

Preserving field camp for future generations

Across the country, field camps are disappearing or consolidating 鈥� many factors, including the growth of remote-sensing mapping strategies and the rise of lab-based technologies, have played a role in this shift. The UW is one of the few remaining universities to operate its own program, which means that securing funding is more crucial than ever.

Without the field camp experience, students would miss out on essential knowledge, techniques and personal growth that can set them up for success. 鈥淭hey gain so many skills beyond simply learning to make maps 鈥� skills that come only from spending six weeks out here,鈥� says McGroder. He particularly hopes that they build scientific confidence and learn about science communication, as students who wish to pursue a career in geology need to be able to tell the public about their work in a way that non-geologists can understand.

Nelson experienced several a-ha moments during her time at field camp. 鈥淵ou climb on top of a ridge, and it clicks,鈥� she says. 鈥淪uddenly all the rock formations you鈥檝e put on your map make sense, and you can actually figure it out.鈥�

In her final year at the UW, Nelson plans to take classes that expand the knowledge she gained during field camp, and she鈥檇 like to continue with geology after graduation. Many other camp participants also intend to pursue careers in the field.

鈥淲hen they come to camp, they鈥檙e geology students,鈥� McGroder says. 鈥淲hen they leave, they鈥檙e geologists.鈥�

Mary Alice Benson's journal

of a UW senior鈥檚 career-defining field camp experience.

Originally published April 2018