By Paula Phelps, BS Geology ‘18

Written by Ashley Salazar, BS Environmental Science '15

Written by Jessica Robinson, BS Geology '16

DESOLATION WILDERNESS – Brittany Klemm (’14), Dai Wilson (’14), Kevin Alvarado (’16) and Dr Burmeister escaped the clutches of the Central Valley for another day in the high Sierra doing fieldwork in our Grass Lake study area in the Desolation Wilderness Area.

DESOLATION WILDERNESS – Dr. Burmeister returned to the Grass Lake study area in the Desolation Wilderness Area of the Eldorado National Forest this summer. Located only a 2.5 mile hike out of the Fallen Leaf Lake trailhead, the Grass Lake study area is an ideal place conduct research on the early history of the Sierra Nevada. This year, Dr.

ZZYZX – In the hopes of getting more introductory level students out into the field for a multiple day field trip, Dr.

A new article on the college website features an interview with Brittany Klemm (’14) and Dr. Burmeister on their recent research activities in the northern Appalachian Mountains and the Desolation Wilderness Area of the Sierra Nevada, student research in the Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences, and students presenting research at professional meetings.

TULELAKE, CA – Students from the Geology of California (GEOS 61) course explored some of the most striking geologic features of northern California and southern Oregon on a late-September four-day field trip led by Dr. Kurtis Burmeister.

DONNER PASS, CA – Geology majors Brittany Klemm (’14) and Christina Colburn(’13) spent the weekend with Dr. Burmeister and members of the Japanese Granite Study Group examining the petrogenesis of granitic plutons in the Donner Pass area of the Northern Sierra Nevada, just west of Donner Lake (the site of the infamous Donner Partytragedy) and Truckee, CA.

LAKE TAHOE – Brittany Klemm (BS Geology, ’14) and Nikki Mainwaring (BS Geology, ’13) spent most of last week mapping exposures of Jurassic metamorphic rocks in the Mount Tallac roof pendant and Cretaceous granitic intrusions with Dr. Burmeister.