SAGE: Learning geophysics by immersion

Abstract

Combine the bold landscape of northern New Mexico (Figure 1) with a unique educational program that blends teaching and research as a partnership among universities, industry, and federal laboratories and you have SAGE (Summer of Applied Geophysical Experience). SAGE was conceived from a vision that something special would come from pooling the resources and talents of diverse groups. It enables undergraduate and graduate students from large and small schools alike to share the excitement of hands-on, modern field geophysical research and learning. Much more than a summer geophysics field camp, SAGE is an immersion in geophysics, an educational experience that many students say is the most satisfying in their lives. Students participate in every phase of the field program: They collect data with modern equipment; they process, model, and interpret the data with workstations and PCs; and they present their results in both oral and written form. The program is not just about using equipment; it's about unde...