News

PCPG support for Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) Field Camp

This summer was PASSHE’s inaugural year of summer field camp for geology students. The six-week field camp made various education stops across the state of Pennsylvania. Several PCPG members helped to make the field camp program a success.  

On a stop in Reading, PA, Dr. Peter Muller (Muller Geological Consulting, LLC) talked about the structural geology of the area and discussed his professional experience and career path. Mr. Muller is an independent consultant that focuses his business on mineral resource exploration. According to Dr. Sarah Tindall, a geology professor from Kutztown University and instructor with the PASSHE camp, “This kind of role-model contact is invaluable as students form their own plans for the future.”

Mr. Joshua Ellingworth and the folks at Parratt Wolff Inc., an associate member company of PCPG, provided a drill rig to install a bedrock well using hollow stem and air rotary techniques. They also gave a split spoon demonstration and explained all the tools of the trade to the students. Students were able to speak with professors and professionals about what it takes to install a monitoring well and classify soil horizons.  

PCPG is already working with PASSHE to support next year’s endeavors. This is a perfect opportunity for members to support the next generation. Please email Vincent Carbone if interested in supporting next year’s PASSHE field camp program. 

PGPG 2022 Student Poster Session 

At PCPGs annual meeting ten posters, illustrative of research performed and presented by undergraduates, were accepted into the student poster session and competition from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Bryn Mawr, Bucknell, Kutztown and Shippensburg Universities.

A team of six PCPG professional geologists, Emily Glick, P.G., Andrew Klingbeil, P.G., Gary Kribbs, P.G., Martin Helmke, PhD, P.G., Mark Ioos, P.G., and Rick Wardrop, P.G., judged the posters on various criteria including the research objectives, appearance (organization, illustrations, grammar), the logic of the research and the authors ability to explain the poster to the judges.

Congratulations to the first-place winner, Molly O’Halloran, from Bucknell University and to Noah Workman from Kutztown University, who won second-place. The high level of work was very evident in all the research projects and PCPG recognizes every student in the competition for their excellent submissions.  Pictures from the poster session  can be viewed on PCPGs Facebook page.

The students were also interviewed about their project and what they gained, if anything, from their research that they would not have gotten through classroom experience alone. The interviews are being edited and collated for an upcoming podcast.  Look for an announcement in PCPGs blast or set your podcast platform to send an alert when a new PCPG podcast drops.