Global classrooms: New Zealand

By Grace Sanborn ’25

Twenty-two students had the opportunity to travel to one of the most geologically active landscapes on the planet, New Zealand, with geology professors Dru Germanoski, Dr. Ervin R. Van Artsdalen Professor of Geology, and Tamara Carley, associate professor of geology. 

The journey spanned the North and South Islands, and focused on different geological processes. Students learned about active volcanism on the North Island as they hiked across lava flows, investigated seaside debris avalanche deposits, and smelled sulfurous gas escape from boiling mud pools. On the South Island, students witnessed the active shaping of a dynamic landscape through tectonic mountain building coupled with erosion and deposition by rivers and glaciers.

For Jamie Bryan ’25, this course was not only her first study abroad experience, but her first time out of the country. Bryan, who is an environmental science major and geology minor, says that one of the best moments came when the group drove through the Southern Alps.

“Beforehand, Prof. Carley told us that her first time driving through them changed her life, and I wasn’t sure what she meant—until I experienced it myself,” Bryan says. “The mountains were so massive that they made me feel small in the best way possible.”

Germanoski emphasizes how impressed he was with how the students bonded over the course of the experience.

“Despite being unique and complex individuals, they developed a strong sense of camaraderie,” Germanoski says.

“I realized how much I thrive in hands-on fieldwork, exploration, and making meaningful connections with the natural world,” Bryan says. “Every moment from wading in a braided river, standing in a glacial valley, or trying to piece together the geological history of the landscape reaffirmed exactly how I want my future to feel.”