Page 26 - 2020 GGE Newsletter

Page 26

2020 GE FIELD CAMP
WRITTEN BY BS STUDENTS, SHAHAD ALDHAMIN AND JULIA ESCH

Week 6: Mineral and Petroleum Exploration (Shahad Aldhamin)
This week was interesting. I was planning to go with the petroleum exploration option, but I am so glad that the remote environment
allowed us to do both the mineral and petroleum exploration. This week's workload felt so different; we had so much to do, yet it did
not feel heavy and did not make me as stressed as week 5. I loved how organized it was; at one point, we were treated like mining geol-
ogists who had to turn their work and mapped drifts by the end of the day. Then as geologists who had to figure out how to log a core
in less than an hour. And lastly, as petroleum engineers/geologists who were required to assess and make decisions about a potential
gas/oil field. Only in five days, we learned a lot about two essential geology disciplines, and I think it helped some of us decide what
they would like to work on in their future careers.

Week 6: Mineral and Petroleum Exploration (Julia Esch)
In the event of a typical Field Camp, week 6 would have been held in Silverton, Colorado. This year, campers had the chance to map
both in Silverton Colorado along with their choice of location in Peru.
The map in Silverton was focused on surficial deposits while the Peru maps were focused on hazards. The mapping in Peru was com-
pleted in pairs.

Final Thoughts: Shahad Aldhamin
In the end, this experience made me appreciate geology more. It helped me become more observant of the fascinating features I see
every day, whether it is a picture of a place I have never heard of, a Google Earth image, or a roadcut I pass when commuting to school.
I want to thank and send my gratitude to all the professors and TAs who made this field camp successful. We cannot deny that we have
lost the essential in-person field experience, but the work done in all the six weeks was the pinnacle of all the hard work we did since
the beginning with GEGN101, a massive leap into becoming geologists.

A selfie with my mapping partner.
Shahad