New Zealand GeoMast

Welcome to the New Zealand GEOL/MAST international program website- Here you will find details and supplementary material for and about our study abroad program. This website is under continuous development so stay tuned for new features and information.Information on applying for study abroad programs can be found at the CIS website.

http://international.udel.edu/studyabroad/programs/database.asp?PWDID=361

Program Overview
New Zealand, Aotearoa “the land of the long white cloud,” a stunning place abounding with opportunities to explore, spectacular geological features, and an amazing array of marine life and ecosystems. Come join us as we follow in the footsteps of Maori sailors and the explorer Captain Cook on a journey through the culture and landscape of “middle earth.” This study abroad program will familiarize students with the diversity of geologic and marine processes that have shaped New Zealand. We will experience New Zealand in a unique way- through the lens of its beaches and biology to seek an understanding of how its people have influenced and adapted to their surroundings. Within an overarching multicultural experience, we will investigate how natural forces have interacted with the human presence to mold the environment we see today. In addition, with ready access to a broad panorama of the natural world, flora and fauna found nowhere else on Earth, and the indigenous culture of the Maori, New Zealand is an ideal natural “classroom” for earth and marine sciences. Haere mai…Welcome!
These are field intensive courses emphasizing on-site excursions as well as survey and sampling methodologies appropriate for the geological and coastal marine sites that we will visit. Students will attend lectures and guest presentations, participate in fieldwork, and undertake lab analysis. Individually and/or in small groups, students will be responsible for written reports, oral summary presentations, and discussions. Fieldwork opportunities will include wave-swept ocean beaches, quite harbors and estuaries, active and extinct volcanoes, thick mangroves forests and seagrass meadows, saltmarshes and mudflats. Students will develop a web journal and present a photo-diary of their trip.
This will be a home-base type program, located at the University of Waikato in Hamilton, New Zealand. We will be housed in the university dorms, and dining hall meals will be provided. Visits and activities will encompass various sites around the North Island. We will climb up massive dunes and down rocky shorelines to the intertidal, we will ford streams and pause to soak in hot beach sands, venture into glowing caves and under dramatic sea arches, wander through primeval tree fern and kauri forests, all the while questioning and probing the geological and biological dynamics and rich historical tapestry of the surroundings.

Courses
Honors credit may be available. Check with the faculty director and the Honors program for prior approval (before departure).

All students must take 6-7 credits.
Students take all three courses for a total of 6 or 7 credits.

GEOL434 - The Geology of Coasts (3 cr.)
An introduction to the coastal features and processes of New Zealand. We will use field excursions and hands-on exercises to explore the estuaries, islands, dunes, and beaches of New Zealand with an emphasis on erosional, depositional, tectonic, and oceanographic processes. We will examine the shape, classification, geologic history, and anthropogenic changes to New Zealand's coastal areas. This course helps fulfill field course requirements for undergraduate majors in geology and environmental sciences.
Prerequisite:Any one of the following General Geology, Geography, Environmental Science, or permission of instructor.

MAST466 - Independent Study (1-2 cr.)
Human impacts in New Zealand: Topics include various environmental issues and impacts: Maori traditions and history, European colonization, explorations of Captain Cook, foreshore issues and government policy, historical land use changes, aquaculture and mariculture, bioinvasions, biodiversity and extinctions, photojournalism, charismatic megafauna (especially, marine mammals), forests (native bush) and terrestrial fauna. Students will develop and present a photo-log of their experiences. A service learning component may also be included.

MAST621 - Coastal Field Biology (2 cr.)
Hands-on study of estuarine and coastal communities with emphasis on patchiness in time and space. Instruction in field techniques as well as analysis and presentation of data and experience in scientific writing. This course helps fulfill field course requirements for undergraduate majors in geology and environmental sciences.
Prerequisite:General Biology, Ecology, or permission of instructor.

Requirements
Applicants should have a G.P.A. of at least 2.0 (on a 4.00 scale). We encourage freshmen to apply! For all participants, a formal application is necessary, including a deposit, one transcript (non-University of Delaware students only), and one recommendation. An interview will be conducted in person or by telephone.

We welcome applications from non-University of Delaware students!

FAQ:Frequently Asked Questions

Q: I haven’t had much/any background preparation in geology/biology…will I be ready for the program?

A: Enthusiasm and hardwork will make you ready for the program. Both the field biology course and the coastal geology course are designed with a strong emphasis on visiting field sites, collecting observations and data, and getting to know the plants and animals first-hand. You will be learning by doing and experiencing: photographing, sketching, measuring and the like, and all students will start from essentially the same place since none have been to New Zealand before. Even in the off chance that someone in the group has been to New Zealand, we guarantee that they haven't seen and experienced New Zealand in the manner we will be presenting it.

Although some background in biology or geology will be helpful, we will be putting what you see in that context as part of our instruction. Thus any student, with or without a science major, should be able to keep up without difficulty and learn a tremendous amount.

So a lot of background is definitely not a requirement, but keen effort and enthusiasm for getting out and learning new things is a must. The days will be packed, and you will be busy, but it will be an invigorating-type busy. Evenings will be less structured for socializing and experiencing the night-life and culture.

Q: Will we engage in extreme sports and activities?

A: That's up to you. While extreme sports (like bungee jumping) and not-so extreme activities (such as SCUBA) are definitely part of a New Zealand experience, they are not for everyone and may require preparation or training well beyond the scope of our courses to enjoy fully. Throughout the month, there is time built in to our schedule for you and your fellow travelers to get the most of your time in NZ. In fact, there is a completely unscheduled, 4-day, long weekend in the middle of our stay. Traveling in New Zealand is easy, and you will have plenty of experience on the ground by that time. Quite literally, you could go anywhere and enjoy any part of New Zealand over that weekend.

Q: What do I need to bring?

A: Your passport and an enthusiasm for learning about the environment and its peoples are by far the two most important things. Nearly everything else you will need will fit in a small suitcase and a backpack. We will cover the particulars of packing for a month, dealing with money, and staying in contact with home, and more in evening pre-departure meeting next fall.

Q: What other educational opportunities are there?

A: There are many, and we will work with you to get the most from your time in country. Especially under the new course, Landscapes and Cultures, we want to be creative and are open to exploring activities like journal writing and blogging, drawing, music, photojournalism or nature photography (both your faculty directors are avid photographers), astronomy, . Let us know your particular interests, and we may well enlist you to inform and entertain the whole group!

Q: So what do the faculty directors know about New Zealand?

A: Plenty, as it turns out. Over the past six years, both of us have lived, worked and traveled extensively in New Zealand, and our professional collaborations with colleagues there continue. Doug is a marine ecologist with particular interests in near shore habitats and ecosystems, and Art is a coastal geologist specializing in sediment transport and cutting-edge instrumentation. There is a tremendous amount of exciting overlap between these two fields, and you will benefit from that interaction first-hand in one of the best and most diverse places on Earth to do so. You will encounter unique biology and spectacular geology and see how together they have lead to today's gob-smackingly beautiful New Zealand.

And by the way, Doug was a faculty director for the 2005 Marine Studies New Zealand program that was featured in the UD Messenger, volume 13, Number 3 (2005).

Contact Information
Art Trembanis
Faculty Director
Department of Geology
109 Penny Hall
Phone:(302) 831-2498
Email: art@udel.edu
Web page:http://www.geology.udel.edu/cshel/

Doug Miller
Faculty Director
College of Marine Studies
232 Cannon Lab
Phone:(302) 645-4277
Email: dmiller@cms.udel.edu
Web page:http://www.ocean.udel.edu/cms/dmiller/

Recommended Reading/Viewing

Books

Lonely Planet- New Zealand. Invaluable guide book. Get the most recent addition for most accurate pricing information.

A Land of Two Halves- Joe Bennett

Blue Latitudes: Boldly going where Captain Cook has gone before. by Tony Horwitz.

The Oxford Book of the Sea. by Jonathan Raban

Movies

Whale Rider (2002)

Once Were Warriors (1994)

The other side of Peter Jackson-

Heavenly Creatures (1994) -shocking true story

Photo Galleries- Links to pages with photos of New Zealand

Photo Gallery- http://www.geology.udel.edu/cshel/nz_geolmast/NZphotogallery/photogallery.html

Photo Gallery I- http://homepage.mac.com/arttrembanis/PhotoAlbum124.html

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Website Last Updated- 10/24/06