Last Field Work of 2013

We went out to collect a last few samples before winter truly set in - though we may have been a few days late for that. The result was successful rock gathering and some pretty spectacular scenes.

 

 We even got some time to look for dinosaur tracks while we were out there...

I took my Geomorphology class to the Grand Tetons, and then the National Parks all got closed by the government.

Though the weather was rather cold, we got some great streaks of luck to carry us through a most successful field trip.

Awesome luckiness #1: minutes after getting to camp a big bull moose walked through and managed to not poop on anyone's stuff.

 

Awesome luckiness #2: ran into the son of the late great David Love, who wrote the geology of the Grand Tetons. He gave the class an overview of the geology. It was fabulous!

  

students drawing sketches and taking notes

 

 Gros Ventre landslide

 Spectacular view from Lizard Creek camp at the north end of the park

 Spectacular view from Gros Ventre camp

Spectacular view from the driver's seat right before heading home

I went to Paris for a geomorphology conference and all I looked at was this giant mirrored structure...

So I got to present at the 8th annual IAG (International Association of Geomorphologists) conference in Paris, which was a pretty awesome conference in terms of learning cool geomorphology stuff - but, as a tourist, I pretty much sucked. You would barely even know that I was IN Paris. Oh well, the "Geode" was super cool looking and it was right at the Cite des Sciences, which is where the conference was.

La Geode: view from Cite des Sciences

La Geode: late afternoon

  

La Geode: sunrise, as seen from the apartment

 

La Geode: sunset, as seen from the apartment

  

La Geode: fooling around with mirrors like a funhouse

The above is only a very small fraction of the photos I took of the Geode. I think I have 200 photos from Paris and 190 of them are Geode-related. Anyway, below is the majority of the other 10 photos.

  

Hilarious diorama in the window of an apartment I walked by daily on my way to the Cite des Sciences

 

Ultra creepy window... "decoration"? of a hair salon... with dude playing piano inside (as inexplicable as the dolls...)

 

Oh look! It's the Seine!

Sweet lion sculpture and some sort of famous structure in the background

I spent almost my entire time in the Louvre within the confines of the basement Egypt exhibit. Because it was AMAZING. Look at the freaking detail in those hieroglyphics!!! Look at the face! The feathers! I was completely blown away.

And then I saw the mummies. The Egyptians mummified EVERYTHING. Scarab beetles. Ibises. Cats, dogs, crocodiles, small rodents. They even had sarcophagi. I think I looked at mummies for an hour, and then an announcement went over the PA system that they were closing in 15 minutes so I dashed off to find the Mona Lisa...

...but I got distracted by Roman mosaics, which were spectacular as well.

I did take a moment to look up at the Eiffel Tower as well. It's definitely a neat structure, it's no Geode... but it's pretty neat.

The semester ended, and I went into the field

Field work this spring involved borrowing some rafts and getting a couple of special permits to collect samples in Desolation-Gray Canyons... while rafting down said canyons...

It started out pretty ominous and with a few snafus, but by day 2 everything had worked itself out, including the weather! Many samples were collected during the week on the river, it was spectacularly beautiful, hot, loads of dead animals floating down the river, too much food, and overall a grand success.

 

 stormy beginnings

 

 open skies

 

 just the right amount of white water

 

 desert blooms

 gorgeous camps

mountain lion tracks

parking boats at awkward landings to reach awkward outcrops to do field work - hooray for lots of field assistants!

can't complain about that.

Rockets are cool. Science is fun...

I'd rather watch NASA launch a new LandSat than work on edits any day.

Then, while I'm watching said launch on my computer, I take a bunch of screen captures. Then I compile them. Then I post the compilation on my blog:

So, if you missed it. This gives you a bit of a play-by-play.

Catching up: summer school

I taught Historical Geology as a summer class that was part of USU's pilot summer science course program. I had a tiny but mighty class - so despite the chaotic hard work of the compressed summer schedule, it was super fun. My whole class participated in a giant group project that was to make a Prezi of the Geology of North America. It is here.


Also, one of my students (with help from her toddler on one page) produced this impressive work!