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Revitalized Facilities and World-Class Training: UBC Geological Field School

Working with alumni to revitalize UBC’s historic geological field school and expand experiential learning at Earth and Ocean Sciences

Fieldwork has been an important part of UBC’s earth sciences curricula – and the UBC science student experience – for almost 100 years.

Since the 1950s, the Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences has based its primary geological field school on a site near Oliver, British Columbia. However, the facilities on the site range in age from 35 to 60 years, and are in urgent need of replacement. The site’s dilapidated condition restricts its use, and the need for continual repair diverts resources from financing the student field trips and associated teaching support that are a vital and formative part of a geoscientist’s education.

The planned geological field school redevelopment and teaching and learning fund will not only revitalize the current site, but also ensure that students have increased access to training opportunities and meaningful experiential science curricula.

Currently, field school facilities consist of metal trailers on skids, originally designed for seismic surveys in arctic regions, and wooden shacks. The UBC geological field school redevelopment will consist of a cookhouse, a study space and bunkhouses, and the new buildings would reuse components of the existing structures and found materials, and ideally incorporate green technologies for heating and electricity generation.

The complete renewal brought on by both projects will help UBC meet growing demand for geoscientists and industry professionals and ensure that students have access to world-class field training at a reasonable cost.

Please contact the Development Office at 604.822.3404 for more information, and for details on how you can help us renew geological fieldwork facilities at UBC.