The Department of Geology at Colorado College invites applications for a one-year non-tenure track position in Tectonics, to begin in August 2010.
The faculty visitor will teach courses in Field Analysis of Geological Structures, Physical Geology, and subjects in the candidate’s areas of specialization. Appointment will be at the assistant professor level for candidates holding a PhD. The PhD or ABD is a requirement for employment. Specialization areas of particular interest are thermochronology, petrology, structural geology, and GIS. Undergraduate research is an integral part of the Colorado College Geology curriculum; thus an ability to advise research in the candidate’s areas of expertise is highly desirable.
Applicants must be committed to high-quality innovative undergraduate teaching, including field-oriented courses. The Block System of education at Colorado College, in which professors teach and students take only one course at a time for 3-1/2 weeks, lends itself to field and project-based teaching. The visitor will teach 6 out of 8.5 blocks in the academic calendar. The Department has excellent field equipment and laboratory facilities for teaching and research in all geological disciplines. Information on the positions, facilities, and Department is on line at http://www.coloradocollege.edu/dept/GY/. Colorado College is committed to increasing diversity of the community and curriculum. Candidates who can contribute to that goal are particularly encouraged to apply.
Applicants should send statement of teaching and research interests, curriculum vitae, and names and addresses of three referees by February 26, 2010 to: Christine Siddoway, Chair, Colorado College, 14 E. Cache la Poudre, Colorado Springs, CO 80903, 719-389-6717; email: geology@coloradocollege.edu. The search will remain open until the visitor position is filled.
The Colorado College welcomes members of all groups, and reaffirms its commitment not to discriminate on the basis of race, color, age, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, or disability in its educational programs, activities, and employment practices.
EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER
DEPARTMENT PHILOSOPHY
The Geology Department at Colorado College offers introductory and advanced courses in earth sciences that may lead to a B.A. in geology.
The courses in the major are designed to
provide a foundation for a professional career in the earth sciences,
provide the background for graduate school, which has increasingly become a necessary prerequisite to a professional career,
provide an opportunity for students majoring in other fields to combine their expertise with geology,
and educate students about the physical environment and our place in it, as part of a liberal arts education.
THE BLOCK PLAN
The Colorado College Block Plan allows us to offer a unique program in geology. Because students take just one course at a time, with class size limited to 25 students, the program is intensive and individualized.
The flexibility of the Block Plan also allows faculty and students to pursue independent study and research projects, during the academic year as well as during summer and winter breaks. Much of this work takes place away from the campus. Many of our students do field-oriented research as part of a required senior seminar project or as part of a distinction thesis.
Students with strong interests in both geology and environmental issues may major in Geology and take elective courses in other environmental sciences and environmental issues. Alternatively, such students may major in Environmental Science complimented with coursework in Geology.
GEOLOGY COURSES
Courses are field-oriented and include day-long field trips in the local Colorado Front Range and weeklong (or longer) trips through Colorado and into New Mexico, Utah, Arizona, and Wyoming. We thus take advantage of the spectacular and varied geology of the Rocky Mountain, Basin and Range, and Colorado Plateau Provinces.
Introductory geology courses spend nearly half of their class time outdoors, with students seeing examples of the various rock types and their stratigraphic and structural relationships and preparing one or more maps of local geology.
Paleontology and sedimentation classes visit fossil sites, work out paleoecological patterns, and interpret sedimentary structures.
Mineralogy classes visit local quarries and mines, while petrology classes look at a variety of metamorphic terrains, study a large granite batholith, and map volcanic and Precambrian crystalline regions.
The Structural Geology and field courses do extensive mapping and structural interpretation in both sedimentary and metamorphic terrains.
Geomorphology classes examine surficial processes in environments ranging from the desert Southwest to the Colorado alpine.
GEOLOGY NEWS/EVENTS
With deep sadness, the Geology Department must inform its graduates that Emeritus Professor and Chair Eiler Henrickson passed away on the morning of December 10, in Northfield, Minnesota. The man of legend, “Iron Eiler,” whose epic geology adventure and survival stories sustained us for years, will live on in our memories and continue to inspire us to fulfill our dreams. Funeral and memorial arrangements have not yet been made. We will post more information as it becomes available. For reminiscence of Eiler, please visit: http://www.mefeedia.com/watch/23067309
Tuesday, November 24, Zion Klos (Paraprof extraordinaire) presented a talk to students entitled "Time to get serious: summer opportunities and internship possibilities...your geologic future awaits". Zion's PowerPoint presentation.
Joy of being a Geology student
Robert Jacobsen presented the following video November 24th to Geology students representing the joy he's found in geology.
Department News
Three CC alums served as faculty visitors in Fall 2009. Natalie Kehrwald (1999), Katie Snell (2002), and Kris Jaeger (1997) each taught a one-block course in the Department.
The Regional Studies course ( senior capstone) this year will go to Argentina in February-March! Megan Anderson and Eric Leonard lead the trip for 17 seniors.
Alumni of Colorado College have the chance for a southern hemisphere trip, as well. CC is offering an alumni trip to Antarctica! Christine Siddoway will lead the group on a journey that departs from Ushaia, Argentina. For info, click here. www.coloradocollege.edu/alumni/Trips/Antarctica0811.pdf
Keck Consortium for Undergraduate Research in Geology has allowed many of our students to take part in consortium-sponsored and -funded research projects. Other students have worked closely with department faculty members on research projects, and still others have developed research projects on their own. This work is often partially supported by college and departmental funds set aside for student research.
The department also sponsors an internship program, under which students may receive a block of independent study credit for research done off campus under the supervision of established academic, government, or industry geologists.
This year, CC Geology sponsors a Keck project in the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming! Christine Siddoway and Megan Anderson, together with Eric Erslev (U Wyoming), will offer a 9-person project that nests within their NSF Earthscope project for an integrated seismology-structural geology experiment. http://keckgeology.org/10-11projects
Other upper-level courses (economic geology, geophysics, hydrology, and others) include substantial field components as well. The Block Plan has allowed us to offer courses in Scotland, New Zealand, Japan, Costa Rica, the Caribbean,
Argentina and the Canadian Rockies, as well as throughout the American West. A geology major at Colorado College will spend about 60 days in the field fulfilling basic requirements, and can do as much additional field work as time and interest allow.
DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY, COLORADO COLLEGE, 14 E. CACHE LA POUDRE, COLORADO SPRINGS, CO 80903
PHONE: 719-389-6621, FAX: 719-389-6910 geology@coloradocollege.edu
