Find a geology field camp that's right for you

Before you apply to a geology field camp, be sure to speak to an academic advisor in your program to ensure your choice of field camp will meet your degree program requirements. Summer field camps usually consist of 4 to 6 weeks (equivalent to 4 to 6 semester units) of intensive field coursework, which allows students the opportunity to apply and integrate the knowledge and skills obtained in their undergraduate courses and prepares them further for work as a professional geologist and/or graduate studies.*

Future Professional Geologist certification considerations

Summer field camp also ensures that graduating geology students have met the appropriate coursework requirements to secure future professional licensure. To qualify to take the Fundamentals of Geology (FG) and Professional Geologist (PG) exams in California requires a minimum of 5 semester units of upper division field instruction in geology as part of your coursework. PG licensure may be required by employers for positions in the consulting industry (e.g., environmental or geotechnical work), so taking summer field geology will make you more employable in the environmental and geotechnical consulting industry. You can qualify for entry-level positions with the Geologist-in-Training certificate from California and/or by passing the FG exam.

Most geology field camps are in the northern hemisphere and take place over the summer with starting dates in May through August. There are a few field camps (e.g., in New Zealand) that take place over the winter – the timing of these field camps may help you to finish your degree requirements earlier (i.e., so that you don't have to wait for a summer field camp course).

Geology Field Camps

– USGS Survey of Geoscience Field Camps

– Geology.com's Geology Field Camps - A Comprehensive Listing (mixture of U.S.-based and international field camps)

– *NAGT's list of 2021 Field Camps: Virtual, In-Person, and Hybrid

– South Dakota School of Mines & Technology Field Camps (in the U.S. and abroad)

– San José State University's Geology Field Camp is a great choice for SF Bay Area students. The Sacramento State Field Camp and the University of Nevada Reno Summer Field Camp also accept applications from students at other universities.

Alternative Summer Field Courses

Here are some alternatives to the traditional geology field camp courses (these are just examples – there are many others):

• Paleontology field course – Montana State University - Bozeman
• Geophysics field course – Summer of Applied Geophysical Experience (SAGE)
• Hydrogeology field course – Western Michigan University
• Glaciology/Climatology+ field course – Juneau Icefield Research Program

Field Camp Costs

Refer to this American Geosciences Institute study of the "Median costs of field camp attendance at US-based institutions." Here's what it boils down to: "The median cost to attend field camp at all US-based institutions as an in-state student is $3,850, wtih overall costs ranging from a minimum of $1,550 to a maximum of $7,425." The cost varies considerably depending on several factors including: 1) the length of the field course (3, 4, 5, or 6 weeks), 2) whether there is travel involved (our majors have completed geology field camps in Hawaii, Iceland, Turkey, Morocco, France, etc.), 3) the type of accommodation varies widely from low-cost tent camping to higher end cabins or lodges that include kitchen facilities and indoor plumbing, and 4) students may also be required to pay out-of-state tuition if the field camp is offered through a university based outside of California. I will reiterate that a 3- or 4-week field geology course (therefore 3 or 4 semester units) meets part of the graduation requirements for our Geology BS program at SF State, but a 5- or 6-week field camp course (equal to a minimum of 5 semester units) is required for certification as a Professional Geologist in California. Note that it is possible to sum together the total upper division field instruction you have had to achieve this minimum 5 units – for example, you might be able to apply a 2-unit upper division Field Methods course and a 4-unit field camp course to meet this requirement.

Choosing a Field Camp & What to Expect

– Field Camp: An Introduction & Personal Experiences by Adriane Lam of the Time Scavengers blog

– Why Should I Study Geology in the Field? by Lee J. Suttner, Department of Geological Sciences, Indiana University

– Advice on How to Choose a Field Camp by David Rodgers, former Geology Field Camp Director, Idaho State University

– What to Expect at Geology Field Camp, by Emily & Eric Ferré, Department of Geology, Southern Illinois University 

– Essay about field camp – Mind, Body, and Spirit – by Jade Bowers

Go to grad school with your eyes open!

Stipends in grad school are.... modest (see above) and don't allow the kind of lifestyle that you can maintain with a "real" job. You're still a trainee in grad school, hence all of the comics pertaining to eating ramen noodles and the obsession with free food in PhD Comics, and other blogs about grad school... (and if you didn't think you could live on this kind of stipend [barring personal or family emergencies], why did you sign up for this?)

This past week, the Professor Is In blog began a survey of PhD debt to assess whether reports she'd heard about credit card and loan debt in the 100s of thousands of dollars could be real (i.e., >$260,000 in debt for a philosophy degree). Slate Magazine, The Atlantic, and The Chronicle of Higher Education all have articles about this survey too. You can go to the results of this survey through the above link, but here's a 2012 summary from a similar NSF survey:

Over 60% of the respondents reported zero debt, but nearly a quarter reported debt over $30,000. You can enter numbers for your own grad school experience at the Professor Is In blog. Post-grad school debt is much less of a problem for students in the physical sciences and engineering probably because most of those students are offered both a stipend and full tuition when they're admitted, and because those students spend only ~5 years on average in grad school.

As an undergraduate, I went to a local state university and my parents paid for my tuition. As a graduate student at a big research university, I was single and childless, drove a 15-year-old car, shared an apartment in a less expensive neighborhood that was a bit of a drive from campus, ate a lot of pasta, and didn't eat out much. I had a teaching assistantship for $12,000 (for 9 months) and my tuition was covered by the university. I graduated with $0 debt and had a blast in grad school (and I never took a loan, never had any credit card debt, and never worked another job apart from being a grad student). So zero debt is absolutely possible.... you just have to live like a student.

I really don't understand students that complain about being broke yet buy lunch out daily, drink Perrier instead of drinking out of the free water cooler that the department keeps, buy organic berries from Whole Foods (aka "whole paycheck"), get regular facials, or drive a new car. These examples are based on real people and they are what I consider pretty outrageous choices for someone in school.  If you're in grad school in the physical sciences and you're accumulating serious debt, you're making some seriously poor lifestyle choices, or you made some bad decisions en route to grad school (perhaps a you got a philosophy/religion/english degree at an expensive, small liberal arts college back east and piled up debt?). As a grad student, you're still a trainee (you don't have a degree yet!) and can't expect the same standard of living that your roommate(s) who got a job at Google straight out of college might have. But consider, your roommates may make a whole lot more than a typical grad student, but they have regular work hours, might have a dress code, get only two weeks of vacation per year (and can't leave for an awesome backpacking trip to Chile for 3 weeks at the drop of a hat [without getting fired]), and have to regularly meet deadlines (with complete, quality work...gasp!).

If you're thinking about grad school, go read the "Why did you take out the loans" comments in the PhD debt survey, think about what living like a grad student means, and consider if grad school is right for you before diving in...

(Lack of) Recognition for women in science

In looking for information about the 2013 American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco that my students and I attend each year, I ran across this photo of the 2012 Honors Ceremony to recognize scientists that have made significant contributions to the earth sciences:

I count about 23 medals hanging around necks in the first two rows of seats, and there is exactly one woman. (Did the photographer put her in the front row to make sure we see her?) I think this is appalling.

The reasons for such a small percentage of women being recognized for their contributions to earth science probably reflect in part why the numbers of women in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) disciplines steadily decreases from the students graduate from university through the rank of full professor and beyond:

I don't want to re-hash the various arguments about why women don't stay in STEM fields in academia - they range from "old boys club" sexism in hiring and a hostile work environment to wanting to have kids while trying to earn tenure to wanting higher salaries for less work required outside academia to a lack of support from their spouses at home to dual career couples who can't make it work - but rather to point out that whatever the reason(s), women remain underrepresented in STEM fields and that needs to be corrected.

What can you do with a degree in Geology?

In 2012, Forbes magazine listed Geology as the 7th most valuable college major with a starting median salary of $45,300, and a mid-career median salary of $83,300. Many positions have much higher starting salaries depending on the field, for example, mining and petroleum industry positions: petroleum engineers have median earnings of $120,000. A recent study from Georgetown University noted that there is virtually no unemployment in the field of geological and geophysical engineering. Most geologists are employed in the western U.S., and in the south-central U.S. (Texas and Oklahoma) where jobs in the petroleum industry dominate. A recent American Geosciences Institute workforce evaluation estimates that by 2021, some 150,000 to 220,000 geoscience jobs will need to be filled. The AGI report notes that at current graduation rates, most of these jobs will not be able to be filled by U.S. citizens.



Graduates in geology may pursue a wide range of careers in the earth sciences and related fields:

• Environmental and Geotechnical consulting firms
• Energy companies such as petroleum exploration firms
• Mining companies
• Government agencies such as the U.S. Geologic Survey, Environmental Protection Agency, National Park Service, Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management
• State/local agencies such as the California Geological Survey, Caltrans, Water-Quality Control Board, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, city planning offices, state and federal highway departments
• Non-profit groups that work to study and protect environmental quality
• Engineering geology to oversee the planning and construction of buildings, bridges, roads, dams, landfills, and tunnels
• Informal educational institutions such as museums
• Technician for science departments in universities or other institutions
• Teaching at high school, community college, university levels (university teaching and research require a graduate degree)
• Science writing
• Environmental law
• Publishers and producers of science books, magazines, computer software, web material, television shows
• Asbestos consulting and testing labs
• Professional Geologist, Certified Hydrogeologist, and/or Certified Engineering Geologis