| Summary: | Geomorphologist Jaakko Putkonen, student team head to Nepal for Himalayan adventure (and lots of study) Talk about higher learning! Jaakko Putkonen, a University of North Dakota geomorphologist, and a student team will leave later this month on a 40-hour trip to Nepal for a summer field course in geology high in the Himalayan Mountains. Putkonen is a faculty member in the Harold Hamm School of Geology and Geological Engineering, part of the UND College of Engineering and Mines. "A field course like this one is a key requirement for geology and related majors," said Collin Giusti, a geology senior who's done several expeditions with Putkonen, including a couple of trips to Antarctica. Like his three UND colleagues, who also are doing this field trip to Nepal – a first for all four students, the choice was for a bigger adventure and a new experience. Putkonen, an authority in polar and high-mountain research, is taking the following UND students (their names followed by their hometowns, their year in school, and their majors): Collin Giusti, Chanhassen, Minn., senior, geology Connor Lindenberg, Cavalier, N.D., junior, environmental geoscience Cody Brown Hoskins, Williston, N.D., senior, geomorphology Nick Bosshart, Jefferson, Iowa, graduate student, petroleum geology. Bosshart is the graduate teaching assistant (GTA) for the team, which will include students from other universities, as well. "Our course objective is to teach students the basics of field geology – we're giving them an intense three-week hands-on experience in how to do this," said Putkonen, who started doing science trips to Nepal during his post-doctoral work. Students will learn the basics of skills of their trade such as geologic mapping, how to make field observations, and how to use their notebooks, Bosshart explained. "Up at our camp site, we'll be several days from any road, and it'll be slow going because we all have to acclimatize to the thin air at that elevation," Bosshart said, noting that there are no smokers among the group. "I've ...
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