What We Offer
- Earn 3 credit hours in Geology which may fulfill a GEP requirement
- Spend 2 weeks learning and exploring along the path of the iconic Colorado River
- Get to know an amazing cohort of curious adventurers just like you
- Learn about how our geoscience knowledge will be essential in shaping our future world.
Who Can Apply
This 16-day field course is offered for NC State Students who will be enrolled in the Fall 2023 and Spring 2024 academic semesters, including incoming freshmen (those admitted for the Fall 2022 term).
2022 Course & Trip Cancelled due to Concerns about COVID-19.
Next Application Deadline: Friday, May 5, 2023
Due to the Novel COVID-19 Virus – We are not accepting applications at this time. Applications for the 2023 summer course will be accepted beginning in January 2023.
Overview of Field Course
When: Thursday, July 20 to Saturday, August 5, 2023
Cost: This is an all-inclusive trip that will cover your round trip airfare from Raleigh-Durham Int’l Airport, ground transportation, activities, lodging, meals, and National Park entrance fees. The per-student fee for 2023 is $2,250. (3 credits of tuition is not included in this cost).
Where: Our 2023 GeoJourney will begin in Raleigh where students will spend 3 days (July 20- 22) on campus at NC State engaging in team-building and outdoor-oriented experiences while learning about the basics of the study of the Earth with a focus on the Rocky Mountains, Colorado Plateau, and Basin & Range physiographic provinces through which the GeoJourney will traverse.
Faculty and students will fly together from RDU to DEN, where the GeoJourney begins. See our interactive map below for details on each stop along the journey. Our first stop will be the headwaters of the Colorado River, located at the Continental Divide within Rocky Mountain National Park. Along the route, we will spend focused learning time at some of the most iconic locations in the American West, including Rocky Mountain, Arches, Capitol Reef, Grand Canyon, and Zion National Parks, Grand Mesa, the Henry Mountains, Glenn Canyon & Hoover Dams, and whitewater rafting on the Colorado River. The GeoJourney will end in Las Vegas, Nevada from where faculty and students will fly back to Raleigh.
Have a question about the GeoJourney?
View our frequently asked questions (FAQs) page by clicking here
View the trip Packing List page by clicking here
Click on individual map “placemarks” for additional information about the locations, topics, and activities that students will engage with while on the GeoJourney.
Colorado River GeoJourney Staff
Geologist Dr. Karl Wegmann is an Associate Professor of Geology in the Dept. of Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences (MEAS) at NC State University. Wegmann teaches undergraduate courses in Introductory Geology, Geomorphology, Natural Hazards, and Field Geology. He is the co-director of the MEAS capstone senior undergraduate geology field course, which is taught every summer in New Mexico. He also directs departmental regional geology field courses to locations including the Colorado Plateau, Basin & Range, Rio Grande Rift, and the Cascade Mountains. Wegmann’s geology research has taken him across the country and world, from the Olympic Mountains of Washington State to the Khangay Mountains of Mongolia, from Colorado’s Grand Mesa to the south coast of Crete, and from the southern Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina to the Apennines of central Italy. Wegmann loves teaching geology in one of the best classrooms available – the land and riverscapes of the American West.
Contact: kwwegman@ncsu.edu | Phone: 919-515-0380
Chester Brewer is the Assistant Director of the University Scholars Program (USP) at NC State University. Brewer has a Master’s degree in Outdoor Education with a focus on place-based learning. He is a certified Wilderness First Responder through the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS). Each Semester, one of his primary duties in the University Scholars Program is the development and leadership of a series of outdoor experiential trips for students. He has led hundreds of students on outdoor trips in North Carolina, to locations across the US including to the Rocky Mountains and Colorado Plateau, and several international destinations. Brewer brings years of training and learning skills in outdoor living, risk management, and wilderness medicine, paired with his connections across the NCSU campus community to the Colorado River GeoJourney.
Contact: ckbrewe2@ncsu.edu
A URL link to the Application Form will be available in autumn 2022.
https://go.ncsu.edu/2020_geojouney_application
(Photo Credits: 2018 GeoJourney Students at Point Imperial, Grand Canyon National Park. Photo by Chester Brewer)
Geopaths 