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!
Mining for Gold in Montana: "The Stretch" at Dartmouth
Taking place near Cooke City, Wyoming, the mining and environmental analysis segment of "The Stretch" is taught by two professors over the course of roughly a week. The Stretch is a field program offered by the Dartmouth Earth Sciences Department, unlike any other in the world. The program is ~10 weeks long and traverses across the entire Western United States. This blog shares some info on the third segment of The Stretch: introduction to mining and environmental analysis.
See here for my first blog on The Stretch, explaining more on what it is!
If you have any sort of interest in a geology or mining career, or perhaps how to make these practices cleaner and more sustainable for the planet, this segment would be your favorite! For about a week, we spent time on "Henderson Mountain," a location historically famous in the United States for one thing: gold.
Two students walking along the top of Henderson Mountain during this segment's mapping project.
Not only a beautiful location to map sedimentary rock layers along with igneous rock intrusions, Henderson Mountain actually sits above a massive gold deposit, estimated to contain almost $5 billion USD worth of gold. However, due to environmental concerns, the massive reservoir has never been touched. As students, our job was to map the entire site and based on what we learned, make our best prediction on where we thought the gold was!
This segment also allowed for some beautiful hikes, along glacial lakes!
For the start of this segment, we stayed at the Yellowstone Big Horn Research Association, my personal favorite of all of the places we stayed. Nestled away in the mountains and looking over the town of Red Lodge, Montana, this location had some of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen in my life. Groups of 8-10 stayed in large cabins with bunk beds, and we ate together in a main, central cabin with a cozy fireplace, overlooking the valley below the mountains. If you're a fan of camping or spending time in the woods, you would love this location on The Stretch.
A view of the sunset from our cabins in Montana.
While staying here, we spent our days visiting several abandoned mine sites nearby, learning about the mining history of the region and the subsequent environmental remediation efforts. Nights were spent playing horseshoe (something I had never played before going on The Stretch) and cards in the main cabin.
Some sites we visited on this segment displayed "one of a kind" geological phenomena, found nowhere else in the world.
For the second portion of the "mining segment" we stayed at the "K Bar Z," a historic ranch and cabin getaway in the woods of the Shoshone National Forest. Quite literally the only housing for miles, the "K Bar Z" was also a cozy campus of sorts that we had entirely to ourselves. Run by a local family, the cooking was amazing, and we were always well taken care of. Most other students on The Stretch claimed this was their favorite place we stayed.
Our professors brought us on hikes leading to long abandoned mining towns.
For the "mining project," one of the largest projects you'll do on The Stretch, we spent around four days on Henderson Mountain mapping (what felt like) every inch of the region. Days were long and hot, but rewarding when we would return to camp and put together our observations. Mapping is like solving a puzzle. Days in the field can feel confusing at first, but as they start to come together you develop an understanding of the land you're exploring.
Days in the field were followed by meeting as groups and discussing our observations.
Along the way, we read scientific papers about where ore deposits are most likely to form, and began to develop hypotheses about where we thought the gold deposit was. To me, this is one of the best things about The Stretch: So much of learning consists of studying and education in the classroom, but students rarely have the chance to apply or practice those skills in the field. There on The Stretch, standing on Henderson Mountain, with real gold sitting beneath my feet and classmates who I had studied with that previous (sophomore) summer, I felt like an actual prospector in the 1800s hoping to strike gold. It was then that I learned the most.
A picture of me from the top of "Crown Butte," an optional climb during the mapping project.
Following making our best predictions about where the gold was, we prepared a skit about our project, and spent the evening presenting, joking around, and relaxing after a long mapping project. The Stretch is not easy, by any standards. In fact, I found the four days spent searching for gold on the seemingly endless Henderson Mountain some of the hardest of The Stretch. However, The Stretch is designed to allow you to push yourself to your limits if you choose, and pursue a truly experiential education. In reflection, I found those difficult days always the most rewarding.
Finally, the locations we visited on the mining segment provided (in my opinion) some of the most beautiful views of the entire Stretch. Our last day before moving again even blessed us with a beautiful sunrise and some moose spottings.
A moose spotted on the final day of the mining segment.
If you're curious about other segments of The Stretch, or what students typically do on "off days," see my blogs about those!
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!
