Hi there!! My name is Martin, and I'm thrilled to be a '27 blogger for People Places Pines! A small rural town in Maine called Veazie is where I call home, and I can't wait to tell you about what life at Dartmouth is like! Carving the slopes in the winter, hiking through woods in autumn, or basking in the Green in spring and summer, that's where you'll find me! Stay tuned for everything Big Green!
In this course, we covered all the basics of ecology: how organisms interact with each other and with their ecosystems. My favorite parts of the class were the labs: they took place outside and we explored ecological concepts around campus!
This course was on everything energy: how we use it, how we generate it, and how we can improve our current energy systems in light of climate change. We visited nearby energy systems, including Dartmouth's very own heating and energy facilities. This course was awesome!
This was a project-based class where we chose an important issue and then designed a solution, using the principles and methods we learned in class. My group made a smart trash can to make recycling easier!
A new course at Dartmouth, this class paired us with a community partner in the Upper Valley area, and we helped them develop and implement a real-world climate resilience project! In my case, that was modeling flood risk and potential solutions for a local business.
Sophomore summer! This course covered the basics of materials science, from quantum mechanics to the strength and performance of real-world materials. In also included a term-long project, where my group cast aluminum-silicon alloys and tested their properties.
Consisting of three geoscience-focused classes, "The Stretch" is Dartmouth's Earth Sciences study abroad program traversing from Banff, Canada to the Grand Canyon, Arizona. It was an amazing experience!
Exploring Glaciers in Canada: "The Stretch" at Dartmouth
At Dartmouth, theEarth Sciences Department offers a field study program like no other in the world, known as "The Stretch", a ~10 week program traversing across the entire Western United States—starting in Banff National Park in Canada and ending in the Grand Canyon, Arizona. It's an absolutely life changing experience; and as someone who just wrapped up The Stretch, I can't recommend it enough to anyone interested in earth sciences or geology. This blog shares some info on the first segment of the stretch: glaciology in Banff National Park.
Have you ever wondered how a glacier forms? Why they shrink and grow, how fast they move, how they carve the landscape beneath them, and how they're responding to climate change? Have you ever been on a glacier? If not, would you like to? If these questions interest you, The Stretch is for you.
Four or five days on the "glaciology segment" involved hiking up the Athabasca glacier and taking measurements!
Segment #1of the Stretch is taught by Professor Bob Hawley, an expert on anything and everything glaciers. He's been teaching this (roughly) one week long portion of the Stretch for decades, so he knows the area, its geology, and all of its processes better than anyone—probably in the world. On the Stretch, Professor Hawley was our professor for a week, and attempted to teach us everything he possibly could about glaciers!
Professor Robert Hawley (right) is an expert on everything glaciers. We were also joined by glacier safety guides while on the glacier.
The first few days of the Stretch were a buildup to finally stepping foot on our very first glacier. Understanding how the mountains in Banff formed and the types of rocks in the area were critical to our study of the region. Days are packed with information, driving around, and activites. While this makes days sometimes hectic, you also learn more than you could have ever imagined about Canadian geology and glaciers in a short time!
Field days also involved visiting the surrounding Banff National Park, there was lots of geology to see!
Once on the glacier, our assignments revolved around understanding everything about them. Professor Hawley introduced us to all of the modern methods utilized to study glaciers: producing depth profiles of the surface below them, velocity maps of their movement, forefield maps of the deposits they left behind long ago, and how fast they are retreating (melting). With the data we collected on these factors, our assignments then asked us to understand why we saw those trends. Being able to correlate faster glacial retreate rates to warming summer temperatures, or explaining why the center versus sides of a glacier move differently is the essence of Earth Sciences—not just collecting data, but explaining it, and then offering what steps we should take next.
We often used new technology and equipment designed by Dartmouth researchers, a rare chance to use instruments currently being developed at Dartmouth!
For this first part of the Stretch, we stayed at a location called "Mosquito Creek Wildlife Hostel," a small hostel tucked away in the woods near Banff with no cell service, no running water, and limited electricity. It's an amazing and beautiful location in which you get to know the twenty-three other students (and teaching assistants) that you'll spend the next 10 weeks with. We had the whole place to ourselves, and although it involves living closely with others, it's an amazing location that was certainly one of my favorites.
After long field days, we visited famous locations in Banff, like Lake Louise!
Glaciers are cold, and so is Banff National Park. This first part of The Stretch is accordingly, chilly, and we often had to wear thick jackets and clothing in order to explore the glaicer. However, the following parts of The Stretch move south through the Western United States, and so weeks gradually got warmer, until we were wearing things like just shorts and a t-shirts!
Downtime also included many silly activities...
Hopefully this gave you a look at what the Glaciology segment of the Dartmouth Earth Sciences study away program is like. If you're wondering what "off days" (break days from learning or schoolwork) look like on The Stretch, I'll post a blog about that coming soon! If you're curious about other academic segments of The Stretch, read my following posts about those!
If you're a prospective geology, mining, or resources student, this post is for you. "The Stretch" is Dartmouth's field geology program, and it covers exactly those areas!
This winter break, I went on tour with the Dartmouth Decibelles to Charleston and Atlanta, performing throughout local communities and making lasting memories together!
Paris is often hailed as the center of the (European) art world. Through an Art History Fall Plus program, I explored Parisian art in person and up close!
