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USF Field Station

"The USF field camp program was by far one of the greatest experiences of my undergraduate career. The tools of geologic field investigation learned during these camps just couldn't be learned in a typical classroom setting. They were a great way to learn what disciplines I need to work on all while also getting to witness beautiful geologic wonders!"
- USF Geology alumnus, Luke Varner (2019)

After 10 years of planning and partnership, the ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ’s Geosciences Field Station in Mackay, Idaho, officially opened in Summer 2024 — marking a significant milestone for the School of Geosciences.  

Stationed for Success

The USF Geosciences Field Station is more than just a USF building 2,500 miles away from home — it’s a long-awaited solution to the academic and logistical challenges of meeting students’ capstone requirements. Globally, geology programs traditionally culminate in a capstone field camp experience: typically, a six-week immersive course taught in a single block, with a focus on structural geology and mapping. USF has reimagined this experience through a modular approach, delivering five distinct two-week segments: structural geology/mapping, volcanology/mapping, geophysics, hydrology, and coastal geology.   

This is such an important time for the students. They’ve spent years learning about geological patterns and processes in books, with the occasional field trip. Here, they’re finally given real-world problems to solve in six weeks with both standard and cutting-edge tools and technologies.  This is when they stop being students and start being professionals.

Why we went West

Field studies and summer field camps are essential in teaching geology. To give USF students a meaningful field experience, we provide our students the opportunity to go beyond the classrooms in Florida. We have to go west to find the proper rocks, fault lines, and geological formations - which is precisely what we have been doing since 2004.

Each summer, USF Geology has taken students into the field, teaching in two-week increments at rented field stations, often staying at local campgrounds. These have been rewarding and highly valuable experiences for USF students and staff despite the hurdles of uncontrolled costs and limited research time. Building a permanent USF Geosciences Field Station in Idaho has allowed us to overcome these hurdles and provide continuity that will enhance the learning experience.

Benefits of a USF Geosciences Field Station

There are many reasons why establishing a USF physical footprint in Idaho make sense. This is a wonderful way to grow the undergraduate program, keep costs in check for students, and offer a vastly improved facility to ensure program stability – with location and lesson plans the same from year to year. In addition, because so few universities have their own field station, this will allow us to attract top students from out of state, both at the undergraduate and graduate level.

For students and staff, the project affords a wide range of logistical advantages – including shelter from bad weather, which can be a frequent challenge in the field. Our facility offers protection for laptops and loads of expensive equipment carried by the students and instructors, eliminating the worry of leaving those items vulnerable to theft or rain damage. And it reduces travel time and productivity - hindering distractions for students, who must currently traverse from site to site.

With the field station, students and faculty now have a dedicated space to conduct fieldwork, collaborate on research, and apply classroom knowledge in real-world settings – an essential part of geologic training. It also signals the program’s increasing ability to support advanced research and attract students and partners who value immersive, field-based education.

USF: A Top Research Institution

The ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ is a global research university dedicated to student success. With your help, USF will continue to move to the forefront in university field research by growing this facility into a world-class research station.

Your support will help make the USF field station  second to none! We respectfully ask you to be a part of our team to help pave the way by making a donation today. Your donation will directly impact the education of our students and our geology program in a profound way. Thank you for making a difference, and for putting our geology students in the field – as key players in their future profession.

To learn about how you can help grow the Field Station into a world-class research facility, contact Development. .