Geological field skills course report and future plans Introduction

Abstract

PL A N ET I SS U E 24 Introduction The need for a geological field skills course for academic staff was raised at a meeting of Earth Science Heads of Teaching held in September 2006. Delegates at the event noted that unprepared and under-skilled non-specialist staff (i.e. not geoscientists) were increasingly expected to participate in or even lead field courses particularly in large, multi-disciplinary departments (Thomas, 2007). In order to begin to address this issue, a week-long residential field course was proposed as a pilot to determine levels of demand and appropriate activities.