MANSFIELD, PA— Rachel Runner, a Geosciences major at Mansfield University, spent part of her summer attending the Colorado Ecosystem Field Studies.
The senior from Hunlock Creek, PA spent 20 days investigating the local ecology, geography, climatology and geology at the Cal-Wood Education Center in the foothills of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains.
“The experience I had was just phenomenal, from day one all the way through day 20 when the class concluded,” Runner said. “Cal-Wood Education Center is in and of itself equally extraordinary. Each day we learned something new and got the hands on experience of what we were learning about. For example, one day we would learn about biodiversity in the morning and then for our field activity we were collecting macro-invertebrates, observe and identify them or on forestry day, we learned how to core trees and interpret the tree core. For 20 days I got to live outside, in a tent, surrounded by nature, with hardly any cell phone service and Wi-Fi; to me it felt like heaven. It was nice to forget the troubles of the world and just focus on learning something new each day and finding the best spot to sit and just observe nature or even just watch the sunset.”
As impressed as Runner was with the experience, Steve Johnson, director of Ecosystem Field Studies (EcoFS), was equally impressed with her.
He wrote to Jennifer Demchak, chair of the Department of Geosciences, saying Runner “was an exceptional and highly motivated student, represented your department very well, and achieved an overall high grade.”
“For 20 days, 22 students including myself were like a family; at times we bickered, pulled pranks on one another, we made meals and cleaned up the dishes together,” Runner said. “This course is something special that Steve Johnson provides and putting it into words is just something hard to do, but by the smile that crosses my face every time someone asks me how my summer was or how the ecosystem field study course was I tell them it was amazing and it is a summer that I won’t be forgetting anytime soon.”
“One of my favorite things from the trip was summiting Mount Audubon; its elevation is around 13,220 and we started at an elevation of around 10,500,” she added. “Steve kept telling us that it was alright if we didn’t make it to the top and that there would be no shame in not making it to the top, but we all made it to the top. I was the last one up and boy it took a lot of energy to get up there, but I did it and I got the pictures to prove it. What I took away from this course and after summiting Mount Audubon is that I can do anything if I put my mind to it and just keep putting one foot in front of the other. It is also OK to just stop, take a nice deep breath, take in your surroundings and make sure you are going in the right direction.”
To learn more about the Department of Geosciences at Mansfield, go to geoggeol.mansfield.edu