Field Geology (EOSC 328 )
Instructors involved in EaSEIL
Ken Hickey (Field school director, Co-lead instructor)
James Scoates (Co-lead instructor)
Joel Saylor (Co-instructor; Acting Field School Director in 2022-2023)
Brett Gilley (Bootcamp support 2022-2023)
Context: Course Description
Level: 3rd year
Credits: 3
Term: WT2 (runs in May)
Capacity: 40 students
Additional fees (2024-2025): $937.34 for transportation and accommodation, plus $825 for materials and meal plan
Instructional team: 4 instructors and 4 teaching assistants
Additional instructional team members: Mattjis Smit (co-instructor)
This is an upper-level course for majors in geology and geoengineering. It consists of 2 days of Bootcamp at UBC-Vancouver followed by 3-weeks of field work at the UBC-Teck Geological Field Station (Syilx Lands -Oliver, British Columbia, Canada)
Overarching Learning Goals
The purpose of this course is to teach the students technical skills and the workflow needed to professionally conduct geological mapping in a real field setting (i.e., observation, localization, data collection and management, 3D visualization, and field safety while developing multiple working hypotheses and dealing with scientific uncertainty). The focus is to develop student higher-level science thinking and interpretive skills.
Typical Schedule and Activities
Prior to Field component
One in-person information session in the Fall (recorded and shared on Canvas); pre-field survey (2024, 2025); one in-person orientation session in the Spring; Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Document shared on Canvas; constant communications via email/Canvas.
Two days of Bootcamp at UBC Vancouver campus (8 am – 5 pm, full field and mapping gear required both days). On the first day, students submit an assignment (questions about content on the textbook); on the second day, students are quizzed on a bear safety video. One day off to pack and prepare for trip to the field station.
Field component (3 weeks;
8 am-5 pm)
Travel by chartered bus with geology stops along the way.
A typical day includes mapping exercises out in the field. In the evenings, students do mapwork, cross sections, compilations, structural analysis, traverse planning and rotating camp chores. There are three camp days (arrival, half-way, departure). Optional/free visit to Nk’Mip Cultural Desert Centre (on camp day). Access to Mini-Library: Indigenous Voices Collection.
Assessment: Field notebook, field competence, stereonets of structural data, 2 multi-day field maps with daily cross sections, 2 single-day field map with cross-sections, 1 integrated compilation map with 3 intersecting cross-sections, geological history.
Other
Students have breakfast and dinner at the field station and packed lunch for the day.
Bootcamp at UBC-Vancouver Campus, Spring 2025 (Photos shared by James Scoates, 2025)
Curricular Development
Goals (G) and Motivation
G1: Add Indigenous Knowledges, perspectives and context to enhance student awareness and knowledge of Indigenous communities local to the field station
G2: Prepare students better for the field school to enhance their learning/living experience, address accessibility needs and support inclusion
| Activities | 2022-2023 | 2023-2024 | 2024-2025 (ongoing) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prior to Field School | G1: Optional virtual tour of Sncewips Heritage Museum at no cost to students (Funded by EaSEIL)* | ||
| G2: a. Virtual tour of UBC-Teck Geological Field station b. Digital content produced during the pandemic was repurposed to support students while recovering from physical injuries during field school (only needed 2022-2023) |
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| G1: Added Land acknowledgement with links to Musqueam for Bootcamp portion and Syilx Okanagan Nation for field school portion (on syllabus, Canvas) | |||
| G2: a. Comprehensive anonymous pre-field survey to learn about student needs, concerns, background and questions. b. New in-person orientation meeting in Spring c. Open Wi-Fi with ground rules established to facilitate student communication with relatives/friends/work and support individual/rest time. |
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| G1: Additional information on Indigenous Nations local to field site (Canvas) | |||
| G2: New Frequently Asked Questions about the field school (Canvas) | |||
| During Field School | G1: a. Links for Musqueam and Syilx Okanagan Nation added to field manual b. Land acknowledgment on site (extended as of 2024-2025) c. Optional on-site tour to Nk’Mip Desert Cultural Centre (guided or self-guided) on camp day (half-way through the field school) at no cost to students. Funded by EaSEIL in 2023-2024 d. Access to Indigenous Voices Mini-Library collection . |
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*The Scnewips Heritage Museum is no longer offering virtual tours.
Geological Field Station is used for dinning,
classwork, and working on office maps.
(Spring 20251)
Basin stratigraphy near the UBC-Teck
Geological Field Station
(Spring 20251)
observations are due at the end of the day
each day (Spring 20251)
(Spring 20251)
1Photos shared by James Scoates
Click on the links to read summary of the field school experiences in the instructors’ voices: Spring 2024 and Spring 2025
Impact
Students
Total number of students enrolled 2022-2025 (three course offerings): 81 students.
- 3 students in Sncewips Heritage Museum virtual tours (March 2023 and March 2024)
- 12 students attended on site tour of Nk’Mip Cultural Desert Centre (May 2024); 2 students attended on site tour Nk’Mip Cultural Desert Centre (May 2025)
- 20 students attended NEW orientation meeting in March 2024 (similar attendance in 2025)
- 30 (100%) students completed the anonymous pre-field survey (March 2024).
- 24 (88%) students completed the anonymous pre-field survey (March 2025).
Instructors’ Reflections
I thought [the Sncewips Heritage Museum Virtual tour] was really good. Just in terms of cultural awareness that virtual tour was excellent.” (Instructor reflective interview, May 2024)
“The design and implementation of the virtual tour of the UBC – Teck Geological Field Station has really helped our students better understand visually where they will be living for three weeks.” (Instructor Value and Feedback Survey, 2025)
“Between the [new orientation] meeting, the FAQ document and the virtual tour, that takes care of ‘Where am I going? What does it look like? and where are the resources?” (Instructor reflective interview June 2024)
“The [pre-field] survey definitely took out all kinds of anxiety, there’s no question … Having the students fill out a survey, identify things they thought could potentially be problematic… took out so much of that unsettled [feeling] going into it.” (Instructor reflective interview June 2024)
“[In] the [orientation] meeting that we had following the [pre-field] survey, the questions and concerns were almost identical to the year before. This year [2025] we had a [teaching assistant], an undergraduate who took [the course] last year, which was fantastic. Because she was totally plugged into the students. So, when she gave her vision of what happened to her and what you should expect and what you shouldn’t expect, everybody was listening very carefully. So those were strong, strong impacts.” (Instructor reflective interview, May 2025)
“[Open Wi-Fi access] enhanced accessibility for people and almost a feeling of belonging; you’re sharing with other people, but you’re doing it for a little bit of time and then you’re back to where you were. So, the ambiance was excellent. And the students seemed to thrive with that; they could check out for a little bit of time, but then they could come back.” (Instructor reflective interview, May 2025)
“… people were picking up the books [in the Mini-library: Indigenous Voices Collection], certainly on the day off, and maybe a couple of days afterwards. I think people might have grabbed something … students appreciated the fact that it was there even if they couldn’t necessarily take it up.” (Instructor reflective interview, June 2024)
“Everybody who went [to the Nk’Mip Cultural Desert Centre visit in 2024] said it was great; and those of us who would be returning have said, let’s do that again.” (Instructor reflective interview, June 2024)
“[The visit to Nk’Mip Cultural Desert Center] was also a good opportunity for students to enhance their cultural awareness.” (Instructor in Community of Practice Activity, Sept., 2024)
“We did the upper loop [in the optional self-guided tour to Nk’Mip Desert Centre in 2025] … There’s lots of information on the native plants and their uses. And you get spectacular views and get immersed in the landscape. We [instructor and TA] took all that back and in the days following in the field would be pointing at different things. The [students] asked ‘Where did you learn that?’, ‘We were on the tour.’” (Instructor reflective interview, May 2025)
Key Lessons Learned
- Gathering student perspectives about their concerns, background and needs is very informative to create a more accessible and inclusive field experience for everyone.
- Sharing as much information as possible about the living situation (i.e., lodging, food, safety, bathrooms, teaching/social/individual time) in a residential field school and opening spaces for students to ask further questions, will reduce novelty space and maximize student focus and learning.
- Having an appropriate ratio of instructors to students allows for a rich learning experience informed by multiple perspectives, facilitates social dynamics and reduces burnout.
Other work by instructors:
Scoates, J. (January 20, 2025). The Future of Geoscience Education [talk]. AME Roundup. Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Scoates, J. & Hickey, K., (December, 2024). Preparing the Next Generation of Geoscientists in the Field [poster]. American Geophysical Union Conference, Washington, D.C., USA.
Scoates, J.S., Hickey, K.A., Moerhuis, N., Spence, D W., Steiner, A. P., & Saylor, J. E. (December, 2023). Geological Mapping at Field School in the Virtual Environment [poster]. American Geophysical Union Conference, San Francisco, CA., USA.