The oldest, most prestigious merit scholarship program in the United States
E-mail to the Foundation, November 2010.
It’s amazing how much geology you’ll discover when climbing 1,200 feet over three miles up a mountain in very thin air and are desperate for any excuse to take a breather.
“Wow, check out more of that limestone! Let’s stop and take (another) picture, shall we?”
Epidote found near Big Pine, California Photo by Zoe Wolszon '14
This picture was the result of one of the more worthwhile stops on the way up to see the Palisade Glacier in Big Pine, California.
I was with my first-year seminar, Field Geology in Eastern California, on a week-long trip to study geology while surrounded by some of the most amazing (and beautiful) geology in the U.S. and possibly even the world.
Needless to say, I learned more in a day there than I did in the three months of classes leading up to it. There’s just something about being there, being on the rocks, being completely immersed and fully engaged, that makes the process of discovery far more potent than in any typical classroom.
Recognizing epidote, pictured here, is one of the skills I picked up on the trip just from hearing offhand comments about it throughout the week. Epidote is a crystal often found in metamorphic rocks, and is usually some shade of green.
The picture here shows a piece of epidote cut by bits of amphibole crystals. And, of course, the picture has scale. Because, as we all now know, a picture is worth nothing without scale!
