Galapagos Now Determining Interest for Summer 2013/2014 The Galapagos are a group of volcanic islands located on the equator roughly 1000 km (600 miles) west of the South American coast. Like many oceanic islands, such as Hawaii, the Azores, and Reunion, the Galapagos are thought to be the product of a mantle plume. Mantle plumes are columns of hot rock, roughly 100 km in diameter that rises from deep within the Earth. These plumes rise because they are hotter (by perhaps as much as 200 degrees centigrade) and therefore less dense, than the surrounding rock. The rate of ascent is about 10 cm/year or so. The depth from which mantle plumes...

Montana Dinosaur Dig June 23 -29, 2013 Must register by Feb 28th, 2013 The Judith River Dinosaur Institute in Billings Montana sets the stage for exploration, collection, preparation, curation, and represents the paleontological arm of the Little Snowy Mountain Dinosaur Project. Imagine uncovering bones of these ancient creatures and YOU being the first living thing to see them in 150 million years! Many have described it as a surreal experience—something hard to describe but life changing nonetheless. Some have come to appreciate not just the fossils but our place as humans within earth’s vast timeline. Still others just come...

Moonlight Hike through Bryce Canyon. Bryce Canyon 2012 Info Packet Bryce Canyon is a small national park in southwestern Utah. Named after the Mormon Pioneer Ebenezer Bryce, Bryce Canyon became a national park in 1928. Bryce is famous for its worldly unique geology, consisting of a series of horseshoe-shaped amphitheaters carved from the eastern edge of the Paunsaugunt Plateau in southern Utah. The erosional force of frost-wedging and the dissolving power of rainwater have shaped the colorful limestone rock of the Claron Formation into bizarre shapes including slot canyons, windows, fins, and spires called “hoodoos.” Tinted with...

As part of our professional leadership component, we have initiated 4 group presentations (workshops) at the National Science Teachers Association National Conference. The value of presenting at a national level professional conference extends well beyond merely attending such conferences in terms of fortifying teachers’ confidence and professionalism among peers – thus contributing to an enhanced science identity.  Each of these session is accepted by the NSTA for the upcoming conference and will have a team comprised of: an experienced teacher (s); new teacher (s); and a university content expert (s). Each team will participate in...

Nepal/Tibet – In The Footsteps of History. Summer 2012 Nepal/Tibet 2012 Info Packet   Nepal boasts eight of the world’s tallest mountains and the world’s oldest Hindu and Buddhist sites. While Kathmandu Valley is made of three ancient cities filled with enchanting medieval palaces, pagodas, temples, statues and stupas, the rest of the kingdom offers unparalleled adventure options with abundance in flora and fauna. As for its people — they are as amazing as the land itself, and higher up, the legend of the Yeti lives on. Although modernization has set in, the quintessence of ancient Nepal remains amongst its...