Applications available now for 2-week course in Sierra Nevada

Imagine beginning your summer in eastern California looking for ancient calderas, glaciers and alkaline lakes. Climbing dormant volcanoes and exploring Death Valley -- there isn't a boring day in this "classroom."\nOn May 16, between 14 and 18 undergraduate students will fly out of Indianapolis to Las Vegas for 15 days of intensive studies. These students will have taken only one eight-week prerequisite course but will learn the same material that juniors, seniors and graduate students of geology have been learning throughout college. The course is listed as IU Geological Sciences G188 and Collins Living-Learning Center L130.\nGeology professor Michael Hamburger teaches the course about the ancient environment of the Eastern Sierra Nevada mountain chain.\nHamburger developed the field trip in collaboration with Collins Living-Learning Center, but it isn't limited to Collins residents. Students of every major and background may participate, though they must apply.\nHamburger, an expert in geological processes and of the area, said it is a great teaching experience for himself and his colleague John Rupp, assistant director for research at the Indiana Geological Survey.\n"There are no boundaries of living and learning," Hamburger said. "It's a great hands-on environment."\nIsaac Simonelli, a former participant in the course, called the region's scenery "absolutely amazing."\n"The best part was understanding what's around you and understanding the processes that created it all," he said.\nSimonelli, a sophomore who went on the trip before he entered IU, applauded the teaching skills of Hamburger and Rupp. Simonelli said their vast knowledge in their fields helped them answer any question they were asked.\nBut Hamburger gives fair warning to students thinking about signing up for the course: They should not take it expecting it to be an easy science credit. \n"It's intense," Hamburger said. "You're in Death Valley one day, with 110-degree desert temperatures, and the next day you're on the top of the mountains observing the 5,000-year-old bristlecone pines, and it's snowing."\nThe trip is packed with daily expeditions to such sites as Yosemite Valley, the mile-high Dante's View, the Long Valley Caldera site and a hydrothermal power plant. From early in the morning to late at night, students are constantly exposed to "another planet," Hamburger said. \nTo apply, interested students must either obtain a copy of an application from Collins' office or apply online at the course's Web site. A letter of recommendation is required, students must academically sound and able to work intensively with a group for 15 days.\nGrades are based on reading and discussion during the prerequisite course, along with guided journal-writing and a written research paper.\nBut former students say not to be deterred by the workload.\n"The best advice I have for students thinking about going is to just go," Simonelli said. \n"Every day you see something new," said sophomore Nathan Brewer, who took the course last year. "The only problem is that it isn't long enough"