What Is Geocamp?
GEOCAMP is a two-day camp for local high-school students to gain basic understanding of degree options, job responsibilities and outlook, research topics and methods in the field of geosciences. The camp is offered at the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences (EES), the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA), and sponsored by the National Science Foundation. In 2015 and 2016, the camp outreached 32 local students in October or November. In each year, one student from the camp was selected to conduct research in the Light Stable Isotope Geochemistry Laboratory at UTA for three weeks with a $500 stipend in the following summer. In 2017, the camp will be in early November. The camp is free to all high-school students. Lunch and snack will be provided.
What Will We Do?
Day 1 – Field Day
Students will go field sites in DFW area to learn basic geology, including different types of rocks, common rock-forming minerals, fluvial and lake transport and deposition processes, fossils, geology structures, petroleum geology, and plate tectonics.
Day 2 Morning – Lab Visit
Students will visit lab facilities in the Department of EES at UTA to learn analysis capabilities. The facilities include ICP-MS, TIMS, Shimadzu Analytical Center, Light Stable Isotope Geochemistry Laboratory.
Day 2 Afternoon – Classroom Practice
Students will learn degree options, job responsibilities and outlook, and career options for geoscientists as wells as principles of stable isotope chemistry and its broad applications. The students will also be given real stable isotope dataset to learn graphing skills and data interpretation.
Who Will Lead?
Dr. Majie Fan and her graduate students will lead the camp. Dr. Fan is an Assistant Professor of Earth and Environmental Science at UTA. She earned her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Arizona. Dr. Fan joined UTA in 2011 after working in ExxonMobil as an intern and University of Wyoming as a researcher. Dr. Fan’s research group studies sedimentary rocks in order to understand the processes of mountain formation and past climate changes. Her research focuses on the Rocky Mountains in western U.S. and the Tibetan Plateau in Asia.
Who Can Apply?
Any high-school students in Arlington Independent School District are welcome to apply. Under-represented minority, including African Americans, Mexican-Americans, Native Americans, Pacific Islanders, and mainland Puerto Ricans, are particularly encouraged.
How To Apply?
Send a statement of interest, resume, and transcripts to Majie Fan at mfan@uta.edu