LSSU seeking high school students to join summer geology excursion

For high school students who have an interest in geology, archaeology, or Native American history, there's a not-to-be-missed opportunity again this year from Lake Superior State University.

The college is offering a two-week summer geoscience program for high schoolers that will have them studying and traveling to sites of geologic and Native American significance in the northern United States.

The program is called GRANITE, Geological Reasoning and Natives Investigating the Earth, and consists of a two-week field trip guided by geology instructors, high school teachers and Native experts. Students will study, hike and camp in several sites from Sault Ste. Marie to the Black Hills of South Dakota, learning geology field skills and using computers and current technology to study the sites.

"The GRANITE experience provides a strong background for participants wanting to enroll in a university-level geoscience program," says Paul Kelso, LSSU geology professor and program director. "They learn how their lives and their communities are affected by geology and gain hands-on science experience."

Native American students in the 10th and 11th grades are particularly welcomed, but the program is open to other interested students as well. The tentative schedule for the program is July 7 to 21.

The program is in its second year. Last year's program had 11 students visiting the Mississippi River, Devil's Tower in Wyoming, and the Badlands and Black Hills of South Dakota, and this year's schedule includes many of the same stops. Travel expenses, lodging, and meal costs are covered by a grant from the National Science Foundation.

Applications and more information on the program are online here. They're due in by March 15.

Writer: Sam Eggleston
Source: Paul Kelso, Lake Superior State University
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