This course will explore the topics, impact, and methodologies of on-going research in the geological sciences by participating in the Geological Society of America (GSA) Annual Meeting, held in Denver, CO (October 9-12, 2022). Topics of focus will be determined by the meeting schedule (TBA) and the interests of enrolled students; examples of likely topics may include but are not limited to: continent building, mineral resources and the energy transition, terrestrial volatile cycles, and records of past climate. Students will attend and reflect upon GSA talks, poster sessions, and student-centered GSA-sponsored events, and arranged meetings with research scientists, both on a group and individual basis. This course will require student membership (paid for by student $40), registration (paid for by department) of, and attendance of the GSA conference as a fieldtrip. 

This research-based course investigates sediment, microfossil, and rock records from Antarctica to gain information about rapid icesheet change events in the geological past. Students receive training in use of specialized laboratory instrumentation at CC and the University of Arizona. They will gather grain shape characteristics and isotopic data for rare samples from Antarctica as part of a collaborative project that tests the hypothesis that an open interior seaway forms within Antarctica when the West Antarctic Ice Sheet collapses. The 2023 research will contribute new understanding to the future consequences of present-day climate and ocean warming. We will do this by documenting what happened during a collapse of the Antarctic ice sheet (only) three million years ago.