Class group to travel to Sierra Nevadas

For students concerned about staying inside all summer, there is a class that can take them to beautiful landscapes they can only dream about while sitting on the couch at home. \n“Volcanoes of the Eastern Sierra Nevadas” is a three-credit summer course that takes students on a two-week excursion to the eastern Sierra Nevada mountains of eastern California. The course gives students a chance to gain experience in learning about the gorgeous geological region while getting IU credit.\n“The course opens (students’) eyes to a whole different kind of world that exists outside the Midwest,” said IU professor Michael Hamburger, who teaches the course. “Students learn about geological and environmental history in a spectacular field setting.”\nThe class takes place mostly in California with two days in Nevada, taking students to what Hamburger described as one of the most geologically-intriguing places in the U.S. The mountain range is the site of active volcanoes and various unique ecosystems. \nAlthough the course is a science course, majors of past participants have ranged from music to the arts to business. \n“It’s a course for students excited about learning,” said Anne Hereford, long-standing associate instructor for the class. \nHereford and Hamburger emphasized the experience gained by taking this class as something rarely equaled during a college career. Hereford and Hamburger said the class offers a lot of one-on-one instruction and an opportunity to study geology outside of the classroom in one of the premier sites to do so. \n“Going from 287 feet below sea level to 10,000 feet above gives students a neat sense of scale,” Hereford said. \nStudents will study the complex landscapes of an area featuring remarkable volcanic and structural elements in person, which contribute more insight than looking at slides in a classroom, the trip leaders said.\nThe class is available to all students, while offering the field-based and outdoor-intensive learning usually reserved for upper-level students in the environmental sciences, Hamburger said. The class is recruiting this week, and interested students should apply before spring break.