• Back home again

  Geology alumnus returns to Wyoming field camp as the new director

• There's not six degrees of separation between Erik Kvale and the Department of Geological and Atmospheric Sciences’ field camp near Shell, Wyo.
  
  No, Kvale's connections are many and not too far apart.
  
  Kvale (sitting lower left in photo) grew up in nearby Greybull. But his grandparents actually lived next door to Iowa State's field camp.
  
  His father was a friend of Carl Vondra, distinguished professor emeritus of geological and atmospheric sciences and the long-time director of the field camp.
  
  "I've known Carl ever since I was a little boy," Kvale remembers. "He used to come over to our house and show slides of his trips to India and Egypt. I became really enamored with what he did, largely through my parents' affiliation with Carl and his wife."
  
  He was also aware of the field camp, sitting as it was right next door to his grandparents’ house. So when Kvale decided to major in geology he thought only of Iowa State.
  
  Kvale eventually received a bachelor's, master's and Ph.D. in geology from Iowa State. He also returned home in 1976 attending the field camp as a student. He was a teaching assistant at the camp on three different occasions while working on his graduate degrees.
  
  "My wife at that time had her master's degree under Carl (Vondra) so my infant daughter was out in the field with us," Kvale said.
  
  Kvale's association with the Greybull area doesn't end there. He has been doing fieldwork in the area for almost 30 years. His Ph.D. work was completed on geological sites in the area. The Bureau of Land Management has established his discovery of dinosaur tracks in the area as the Red Gulch Dinosaur Tracksite.
  
  So when Vondra retired after almost 40 years as the field camp's director, the Department of Geological and Atmospheric Sciences looked to Kvale to go back home yet again.
  
  "I know the area and I know the people," Kvale said. "This camp is fantastic. When they asked if I wanted to direct the camp I jumped at it.
  
  "Mostly the work I do is research (he works during the academic year with the Indiana Geological Survey at Indiana University)," he said. "But I love teaching in the field and this is a great opportunity for me."
  
  Even before he became the director of the Iowa State geology field camp, Kvale has kept in touch. For the past four years he has run teacher workshops out of the campsite developed independent of the camp.
  
  He hopes to interest other Iowa State academic departments to come out to Wyoming for the summer and offer courses.
  
  "This is a fantastic facility," he said. "It is rustic but you can't beat the scenery or the geology and the locals. Local folks mark their summers by when Iowa State geology students show up."

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August 23 to September 5, 2004