UND Geologist, Grad Student to Lead Field Camp in Himalayas

UND researcher, grad assistant head to Himalayas to lead summer field camp for students from all over USA Dr. Jaakko Putkonen and graduate student Theodore (Ted) Bibby head to the high country of Nepal to lead a three-week geology field camp for students from all across the country. The University of North Dakota geology team also will be conducting research that follows up on their findings in Antarctica earlier this year. “Ted and I are keen to study the glaciers in the high Himalaya as they show similar features that we just encountered in Antarctica,” said Putkonen, assistant professor in the UND Department of Geology and Geological Engineering and an expert in rugged landscapes. “We hope that this will shed more light on the history and current process in Antarctic glaciers,” said Putkonen, a native of Finland. The field camp expedition to Nepal is organized by the Black Hills Natural Sciences Field Station, part of the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology (SDSM&T). The Black Hills Natural Sciences Field Station is a cooperative program formed by a consortium of colleges and universities from several states that offers variety of field courses in both geology and geological engineering programs. These courses are offered from Ranch A, a historic log mansion located in the northern Black Hills near Beulah, Wyoming, SDSM&T Campus in Rapid City, SD, and from Taskesti station, located on north Anatolian Fault Zone, about 200 kilometers east of Istanbul, Turkey Consortium members are involved in instruction and development of each summer\u27s projects. South Dakota School of Mines and Technology serves as the host institution and provides transcripts of credits to the enrollee\u27s parent institution. The consortium comprises Geology and Geological Engineering faculty and staff from South Dakota School of Mines & Technology, University of Mississippi, University of North Dakota, Black Hills State University and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Other universities are invited to join the consortium, and students from non-consortium universities are encouraged to attend the camps