Field work in the Ozarks and Appalachian Mountains. First-rate facilities for teaching and conducting research. Unlimited access to alumni geologists.

These are just a few of the options available in the geology department, a department that strives to provide students with more than just a degree.

“We want our graduates to have the experience and confidence required for success after Wittenberg, whatever or wherever that may be,” said Ken Bladh, professor of geology and department chair.

To assist in this objective, the department offers a series of courses, which provide the content and skill experiences expected of undergraduate geology programs nationally.

“We rely on professional associations for national standards to which we compare our curriculum,” Bladh said. Students select from a set of geology courses and from cognate sciences and math courses that support their individual career goals.

“Our curriculum integrates methodology and hands-on experience at all levels, providing an intellectual context for the practical geologic skills a student learns.”

The department also aims to provide the technical training necessary for success in an entry-level geology job or in the first year of a Master of Science graduate program in geology or related fields.

“Our small class size, about five to nine students, allows regular field activities and class-related research projects, which build practical experience in job-related skills,” Bladh said.

The department’s field seminar course, for example, takes students to such geologically diverse regions as Upper Michigan, Falls of the Ohio, the Mammoth Cave Region, among other areas.

Upon return to campus, the students must then complete mini-research projects and prepare PowerPoint presentations of their findings.

At Wittenberg, undergraduates also have access to sophisticated instrumentation, such as the SEM in the Lutz Microscopy Lab, typically reserved for graduate students at large research institutions.

In addition, the facilities include computers, software for mapping and simulation of geologic processes, and field instrumentation — equipment unimagined in the department 20 years ago.

“We focus on student-active learning environments — laboratory and exercises — rather than rote memorization of facts, thereby empowering the student with methods rather than burdening them with too much specific knowledge, some of which will be outdated soon,” Bladh said.

Currently, there are about 20 geology majors, and four full-time faculty members in the department.

They include William Dinklage, visiting assistant professor; Robert Morris, professor; John Ritter, associate professor; and Katherine Bladh, associate professor, who shares a full-time position with her husband.

All enjoy the opportunity to work with students and alumni on a regular basis.“We, the faculty, love our interactions with students in labs and field experience (even with the camping and sleeping in tents) and in shared research projects,” Bladh said.

“We enjoy collaborative projects with one another, thereby modeling professional scientific interactions to our students. We regularly invite alumni to campus to give technical presentations of their geologic careers and challenges at work.

We also meet alumni on field trips to see their real world work, and throughout the past five years, we have relied heavily on e-mail correspondence between alumni and seniors seeking job leads,” Bladh said.

“We all enjoy sharing our enthusiasm for geology and the satisfaction of understanding earth’s complex systems.”

To maintain this level of satisfaction in the future, however, Bladh explained that the department will require more technology and support.

“We must be able to purchase new types of instruments as they are widely adopted in geologic work such as GPS receivers and portable field spectrometers, for example,” Bladh said.

“We also need to find additional financial support for student research, and our faculty need time and support for continued professional development.”

Bladh noted that each faculty member in the department has several disciplinary responsibilities and must keep abreast of advances in each of those teaching areas.

“Our biggest challenge comes from the ever-expanding body of scientific knowledge and specialization typical of technical fields.

We must maintain a healthy balance between teaching how to be a scientist and all of the things a scientist is supposed to know.”

Despite such challenges, Bladh is convinced that the department will always have an edge with its students.“Our competitive edge is the context of the Wittenberg liberal arts and sciences curriculum and an emphasis on the whole person,” Bladh said.

“Many geologists must interact with diverse types of professionals in a wide range of settings (public meetings to corporate settings).

General knowledge of the world, cultures and an ability to communicate, serve our graduates as much as the technical skills and knowledge that they acquired here and afterward.”