Just how important is fieldwork?

I have been following the continuous debate over the importance of fieldwork within geology and its application into a degree. Having just returned from independently mapping in the Isle of Man for my third-year mapping project, I am all for it. I have the opportunity to thrive in a new environment, and be able to look back through the ups and downs, through the sunburn and rain, and know that the amount of effort put into my fieldwork was worth it when I hand it in to be marked.

Unlike other subjects, geology requires 3D thinking – something that doesn’t come naturally to many people, especially myself. So when the opportunity of fieldwork comes around, I am more than excited to see what those textbook examples were actually trying to describe.

In April, I visited Holy Island in Anglesey, and underwent a taught structural field course. Had this trip occurred before my structural exam I had in January, I feel as though I would have passed with flying colours. Everything was put into perspective and was even amazed at times to be stood infront of structures that aren’t the perfect textbook definition, yet still be able to recognise them. Fieldwork is important, as geology isn’t straight forward and never perfect like those textbook examples. This aspect of fieldwork enables a training geologist to become versatile, a sought after skill within the industry.

As I previously mentioned, I visited the Isle of Man for 28 days, beginning in Derbyhaven and working westwards towards Gansey. I covered an area in excess of 20km, of which was my target prior to arriving in the Isle of Man. Knowing I had a time limit, fieldwork has increasingly taught me to manage my time efficiently, to know what protocol to follow if I do not know what is going at the locality, and to follow my gut feeling when I know I should return to a locality as it may hold more information than first expected.

The experience has taught me to be incredibly independent. I like to arrive at a new locality with a fresh mind and write down my first thoughts. I think it has improved my debating skills as I begin to suggest ideas and reasons why certain structures or rock types are present at a locality, debating with myself which reason is more likely to be realistic, but noting my thought process at the same time in order to return at a later date and continue. In the planning process, I do feel it’s important to set yourself targets and aims when on fieldwork as they continue to motivate you. I do believe I am an incredibly motivated individual and I hope this is reflected in my work.

I think it is incredibly important to follow a protocol when on fieldwork and I stand by mine. From learning how important and efficient your protocol is in the field, teaches you just how important they can be and when your career begins, I would hope that I could transfer my skills I have learnt. My protocol begins at a new location, where I believe it’s important to write my location incredibly precisely, not only for safety reasons, but also if someone wanted to return to the locality with my notebook. I think it’s important to have a little ‘rekkie’ around the area, then write first impressions and begin identifying lithologies, structures etc. I follow this incredibly precisely to ensure every time I visit a new area, I do not miss vital data or observations which may alter my interpretations and ultimately my geological history. As fieldwork is highly subjective, I also feel it’s important to keep my data and observations separate from my interpretations.

Although it is suggested fieldwork is dated, as technology begins to take over, I do feel it is vital for a geology degree to contain as much fieldwork as it can. It teaches you a tremendous amount of transferable skills that I hope to use in industry, which I would not have learnt from lectures and textbooks. This is why, I do believe geology undergraduates do stand out and fieldwork should be compulsory within an undergraduate’s degree.