9 students – 90 minutes – 150 lbs of multiflora rose and garlic mustard …

Posted on April 24, 2014 by cgeiss

… one heck of a final exam in biological invasions.

Burnham Brook in Pouring Rain

Posted on April 16, 2014 by cgeiss

Chris Kenny before it got really wet.

Nope, the weather wasn’t at its finest when our senior seminar class left for Burnham Brok in East Haddam, CT. It was actually raining pretty hard and it didn’t stop until we arrived about an hour later to meet Steve Gephart from the CT DEEP. Steve and Mike Fotos gave us a guided tour of Burnham Brook Preserve, one of the first properties in Connecticut donated to the Nature Conservancy by Dick Goodwin, a Connecticut College professor who helped to establish the Nature Conservancy in the early 1960’s.

Steve leading us through the forest.

The Burnham Brook Preserve consists of 1022 acres of forested land and includes two small streams. It was amazing to see these two streams, even after prolonged heavy rain, run completely clear and still within their banks – the result of a nearly completely protected watershed area.

Burnham Brook

One of the many stone walls criss-crossing this former farm area.

We spent about two hours hiking through the preserve, listening to Steve and Mike’s stories about the preserve and their explanation of various ecological features. We were all pretty wet after our trip, but not too cold to visit the local ice cream shop, where we sampled a large variety of locally made flavors. All-in-all: a very successful trip!

It’s never too wet for ice cream! At the Salem Valley Farms Ice Cream store.

ENVS Program Featured in Recent Newsletter of the Connecticut Geological Society

Posted on April 13, 2014 by cgeiss

OK, this time for real :-)
(we’re not that lame to try the same joke twice, and 4/13 would be a bit late anyway…)

After hosting the annual meeting of the Connecticut Geological Society (CGS) last Fall our program is featured in the current CGS newsletter. For the high-res version you can click here, all you guys with prehistoric low bandwidth connections (like me) can access the low-res version here. You can skip right to pages 4 and 5 to read about our program.
If you read the entire thing, which is highly recommended, you’ll notice that the society organized a spring fieldtrip to the metamorphic rocks of western Connecticut this weekend. Jon and Christoph enjoyed a beautiful day in the field, stood on the oldest dated rock in Connecticut and, among other fine specimens, looked at Candlewood Granite, a “highly foliated granite” that others might safely describe as a gneiss – but I spare you the long-winded discussions we had about the naming of rocks. This time it was a granite, but it was certainly a gneiss one!

Iver Earns an Easy A !

Posted on March 4, 2014 by cgeiss

The senior seminar class visited Hammonasset Beach State Park today to learn about conservation practices in one of Connecticut’s busiest state park. We got a little introduction to the park by Henry Alves, the Park and Recreation Supervisor at Hammonasset. Afterwards we went to Cedar Island to look for one of the three snow owls that are currently in the park. Nope, we didn’t see any, but learned about salt marshes, glacial moraines etc.On the way back Iver decided to show us his manly side and, for an easy A, did the polar bear plunge:

And, yes, I must have missed that fashion trend:

2014 Iceland Fieldtrip is Full

Posted on December 5, 2013 by cgeiss

Next year’s field trip to has filled up. Cameron, Jon and Christoph will take 12 students on next year’s trip to explore the southern part of the island. Jon’s already busy updating our gear lists, chief paparazzi Christoph bought a new camera. Cameron? Well, Cameron is looking into the authoritative works on edible Icelandic weeds. We are so ready – and it’s going to be awesome!

Summer 2014 – Fieldtrip to Iceland

Posted on November 4, 2013 by cgeiss

First Announcement
when: June 13th – 25th 2014
ENVS 350 – 0.5cr (creditable towards the ENVS major)

We will spend 10 days in Iceland visiting Reykjavik, Thingvellir, the Geysir geothermal field, and hiking the Laugavegur, one of the most amazing hiking trails in Iceland. Accommodations will be in tents and mountain huts. On the trip we’ll experience breathtaking landscapes, learn about geology and soak in natural hot springs. The course will meet weekly during the spring semester for discussions on Iceland’s ecology, seminar topics, course structure and trip details, and will conclude with the ten-day backpacking trip to Iceland. The trip will begin and end in Boston.Cost of the trip:
$800.00 plus the cost of airfare (currently $750.00).
Cost includes accommodation, local transportation and meals during the backpacking portion of the trip. You will cover the costs for your own food while we stay in Reykjavik at the beginning and end of the trip.

How to sign up:

Submit a half-page statement to Prof. Christoph Geiss introducing yourself and telling us why you want to go on this trip. Sign-up is by instructor permission only.

Upon registration we require payment of $1000.00 by December 15^th. This first payment is to cover the cost of airfare and local transportation and is likely not refundable. If you have to cancel the trip we will try to cancel your airline ticket and refund you any refund we receive. If you sign up for the course later than Dec. 15^th we ask for your down payment within a week of sign-up, and your payment may be higher.
Full payment (airfare plus $800) is due by March 31^st (check payable to Trinity ENVS).

Equipment Needed:
ENVS has the tents and a limited supply of sleeping bags, sleeping pads, backpacks etc. You will need good boots, rain gear and general hiking equipment (we’ll get you a list of equipment in January)
Do I need to be in shape?
It definitely helps. You’ll be hiking for seven days with a heavy backpack over a distance of approximately 50 miles. Always remember: your instructors are twice your age and have had desk jobs for decades. So, if they can do it …
Can alumni go?
Absolutely. We might have to charge you a few bucks extra for insurance, but that’s about it… and – since you don’t have to do any work we’ll make you carry tons of extra gear.
For pictures from our last trip click here.
For additional information on the trip – follow this blog.
Will it be awesome? – absolutely!

Utah Art Show Opens With Free Food

Posted on November 4, 2013 by cgeiss

Just as a reminder: Christoph’s exhibition of black and white photographs from Utah and Arizona has its grand opening tomorrow. Chris Guilmartin from the Calendar Office promised “southwestern-themed” food. Let’s find out what that is…

No McCookout tomorrow – artsy-fartsy grand opening instead! Wear your turtle-neck, beret, horn-rimmed glasses and artsy tweed jacket* and you are good to go.

:-)

*or your ENVS Fleece