SW Semester Meeting - Tuesday, January 28 Thompson Hall 115 @ 7p

The Southwest Semester (August-November, 2015), a geological and environmental policy tour of the American West, will consist of an integrated 4-unit program that will meet a variety of EPDM, Geology, and University Core requirements (see below). The program will start on campus, and then explore a wide range of environmental issues while “on site” as we travel throughout the western United States.  The courses will be:

• Geo 330: Regional Field Geology (counts as a course for any Geology degree {satisfies the historical geology requirement}, or as an upper-division elective)
• Geology 310:  Water Resources (counts as a course for any Geology degree, as an upper-division elective, or as a non-policy elective for the EPDM Program)
• Geology 315: Energy Resources (counts as a course for any Geology degree, as an upper-division elective, or as a non-Policy elective for the EPDM Program)
• Politics and Government 309: Applied Environmental Politics and Agenda Setting (satisfies the Policy elective for the EPDM Program AND the Connections Core requirement)

Each student selected for the program must pass 2 prerequisite courses (Geology 101, ENVR 101). Additionally, each student selected for the program must attend and participate in the preparation program, which entails noncredit on-campus meetings (typically held on a weekday evening) during the Spring, 2015 semester. Additionally, final participants in the Program must:

1. Receive grades of B- or better in each of the required prerequisite courses.
2. Have an overall GPA of 2.5 or higher at the end of the Spring 2015 semester
3. Maintain a record of good citizenship.
4. Be in good academic, conduct, and financial standing.

PRELIMINARY SCHEDULE AND ITINERARY:

August 3-August 19, 2015: on campus (dorms)

August 20: Departure date; travel by vans:

Tour, Leg 1: Grand Coulee (WA), Yellowstone, Wind River Mountains (WY), Dinosaur National Monument (UT) (camping; 10 days)

Base Camp 1: Crested Butte (CO) (lodging; 10-12 days)

Tour, Leg 2: Canyonlands NP, Arches NP, Natural Bridges NM,  Glen Canyon, Monument Valley, Mesa Verde NP (UT, AZ, CO, NM) (camping; 18 days)

Late September: Arrive Ghost Ranch, New Mexico:  MIDTERM BREAK  (1 week)

Resume Tour, early October (1st week):

Base Camp 2, Ghost Ranch (NM): Los Alamos and Sandia National Labs, Valle Grande, Bandelier NM, Santa Fe, Rio Grande Pueblos (camping/lodging;10 days)

Tour, Leg 3: Chaco Canyon NP (NM), Canyon de Chelly NM, Glen Canyon Dam, Grand Canyon NP (south rim) (AZ), Lake Mead/Hoover Dam (NV), Salton Sea, San Andreas Fault (CA)                      (camping, lodging; 3 weeks)

Base Camp 3 (UC Santa Cruz?)- final tests and projects for Geology 310, 330 (1 week)

Mid-November: return to campus the week before Thanksgiving

November 30: Complete PG 309 project (electronic submission)

Finals Week (Dec., 2015): Complete Geology 315 project (electronic      submission)

http://www.pugetsound.edu/academics/departments-and-programs/undergraduate/geology/southwest-semester/

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Barry Goldstein, PhD
Professor of Geology
University of Puget Sound
1500 N. Warner   CMB 1048
Tacoma, WA 98416
253-879-3822
goldstein@pugetsound.edu