A field camp is required as a major capstone course in the great majority of geoscience programs, including ours. UNO does not have a field camp of its own, and so students must attend a camp at another institute. This is not uncommon, and has several advantages. Students can find a field camp that fits their career interests better. Some field camps emphasize traditional geology, while others emphasize geohydrology and environmental exercises. Some are more on the forefront of utilizing technology in the field. Field camp also broadens a students professional experience through interactions with other geology students and professors.

Approval of a field camp: Unfortunately, not all field camps are of the same quality. Some of them are glorified field trips instead of a well organized set of field exercies. You pay too much, and this is too important a course not to get your full value for the money and your effort. We have a list of preapproved field courses (listed below). If you want to go to a camp not listed below you simply need to get approval from the professors to make sure it will satisfy the requirement. Providing us with a detailed itinerary of the field camp should allow us to make a decision.

Criteria for evaluation of a field camp:

• Most of the time is spent conducting field exercises.
• A diversity of types of exercises and geology, including stratigraphic description, geologic mapping in different types of terrane, construction of cross sections, and some environmental modules.
• A student to professor/instructor ratio of less than 10 to 1.
• Bonus points for modernization of curriculum (e.g. use of GPS and GIS technology in the field).

Pre-approved field camps:

• Iowa State Field Camp.
• University of Kansas (Lawrence).
• University of Missouri - Columbia
• South Dakota School of Mines.