Fieldtrips & Projects

During the summer of 2023, GO FoRWARD is offering students all expenses paid fun geoscience fieldtrips.
  • locations are chosen to showcase the breadth of fun geosciences experiences in our area
  • led by PhD students in the Department of Geosciences who are passionate about science and sharing geosciences with everyone
  • all expenses paid including transportation to/from UWM, admission fees, and lunches.
Fieldtrips! (choose one, two, three, or all four!)
  1. Saturday June 3: Chicago Field Museum Evolving Planet exhibit with Jake Potter
  2. Friday June 9: Devil’s Lake State Park with Darian Dixon
  3. Friday June 16: Chicago Museum of Science and Industry Henry Crown Space Center with Darian Dixon
  4. Saturday June 17: Cave of the Mounds with Jake Potter

Wednesday June 28: Everyone who participates in GO FoRWARD fieldtrips this year will be invited to an evening picnic with all GO FoRWARD program alumni.

Previous years:

During the 2018-2022 GO FoRWARD summer sessions, students participated in research projects focused on one area of geosciences, either Fossils, Rocks, or Water. Although we aren’t offering research experiences in 2023, if you are interested in these types of projects, please contact us at goforward@uwm.edu.

 

Fossils Project

The bedrock underneath Milwaukee tells a 400 million year old story! In this project, students went outside to explore the fossils found in the local carbonate bedrock and unravel the fascinating tale of the creatures that inhabited the warm inland seaway preserved in the rocks. Then we brought all the data back to the computer lab to learn data entry and some statistical tests.

 

Rocks Project

Ever hear the phrase ‘strong as a rock’? If rocks are so strong, why are they full of cracks? Students who worked on this project visited local quarries and bedrock sites to learn how to measure fractures with geologic compasses. We interpreted how the fractures may have been related to ancient plate collisions that pushed on the rocks.

 

Water Project

In some years, the water project focused on stream gauging in Waukesha.  In other years, students studied groundwater right below campus!  We learned how streams respond to floor events and how hydrogeologists test groundwater quantity and quality.