Field Education

Field education is the foundation of all geosciences. We strive to offer as much field education as possible, but it is recommended that you are proactive and find field work related summer work in industry or with the Geological Survey.

As far as the departmental offerings go, we strongly recommend that you take the 300-level field courses immediately after finishing your 2nd year, and the 400-level field courses at the end of your 3rd year. The only exception to this scheme is the Capstone field course which is meant to be taken in the 4th year.

Note that field courses have registration deadlines which are often well ahead of the course dates, and that you need to register with the department, and not on ROSI. Please consult the departmental notices for further information.

If you are a full-time student, the course is required for your program, and you were register in a per-program POSt in the previous fall and winter sessions, then you do not have to pay tuition fees; however, please note that you need to pay the incidental fees at the start of the summer term, and that these will be reimbursed at the end of summer as long as you do not enroll in any other courses. In addition there is a course fee to the department to help cover the cost of transportation and accommodation (anywhere from $400 to $1000). In addition to these fees, you are expected to cover the cost of your own food.

Note: The above fee covers only part of the total cost. The remainder will is covered by the Department. Conversely, if you are enrolled in a different Department (e.g., UTM or UTSc), you are responsible for the full course cost. Consult with your home department if course subsidies are available to you.

Regular field courses

• ESS234H Introduction to Geological Field Methods (Whitefish Falls) This course will take place late summer 2020
• ESS420H Advanced Geological Field Methods (Benny Belt). This course will take place late summer 2020
• ESS410H Field Techniques in Hydrogeochemistry (Deep River, in late Aug/Sep)
• ESS450H Geophysical Field Techniques (same time and same place as ESS410H)

Special field courses

The following courses may or may not be offered in any given year. Furthermore, they are often only available to a small subset of students, so do not count on them to fulfill your graduation requirements.

• ESS490H Geological Capstone Field Trip: Variable destinations. Please see the departmental announcements. Note that the application deadline is often 6 to 8 months before the course date.
• Various Courses:  Various destinations via the International Course Module Program. Typically announced in class. 

Below some blogs from previous trips.

	Spain 2016