College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Iowa State University

May 10, 2007
Iowa State geology field station named in honor of long-time director, faculty member Carl Vondra
The Board of Regents, State of Iowa, has renamed the field camp operated by Iowa State University's Department of Geological and Atmospheric Sciences near Shell, Wyo., the "Carl F. Vondra Geology Field Station" in honor of Carl Vondra, emeritus Distinguished Professor of geology at Iowa State.

"This is the perfect way to honor Carl for his committed service as director of the camp from 1965-2003 and for his many other invaluable contributions to the Department of Geological and Atmospheric Sciences," said Carl Jacobson, professor and department chair. "Nothing I can say can come close to expressing the amount of influence Carl has had on the field camp and its many students."

Iowa State has operated the field station in north-central Wyoming each summer for a course in geology field concepts and methods since 1957. The course is now co-taught with faculty from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, which is Vondra's alma mater.

Vondra joined Iowa State's geology department in 1963 and began teaching at the field camp a year later. He assumed the post of director in the summer of 1965 and continued in this position until his retirement from Iowa State at the end of July 2000. After his retirement, Vondra continued on as camp director through the summer of 2003.

During his time as camp director, Vondra supervised all aspects of the station, ranging from routine maintenance of its infrastructure to the course curriculum.

"Carl transformed the camp from a small operation that served only a few students each year to one of the nation's best-known field camps, which has served as many as 60 students from Iowa State and other universities each summer," Jacobson said. "There is no question that the summer field class is the single most formative part of the geology undergraduate curriculum."

The field station is home to Vondra and his family.

"It was like a vacation for me," Vondra said. "Although it was quite a bit of work, it was a welcome change from the normal routine of campus and Ames."

During his tenure as the field station's director, Vondra continually upgraded the physical structures at the camp. Three of the main buildings are original structures used by the U.S. Government during its internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II.

Two of those facilities serve as living quarters for the students, while the third contains the kitchen, mess hall, library and camp director's quarters. Many of the field station's improvements over the years came courtesy of Vondra as he searched high and low for bargains for the kitchen and other buildings to improve the day-to-day environment for the students.

"I enjoyed my experience as director of the field station very much," he said. "It was really the high point of my life here at Iowa State."

In retirement, Vondra continues to serve the department. He travels annually to Houston, Texas, to meet with Iowa State geology alumni and is engaged in the department's efforts to raise funds to replace the current buildings at the field station with more modern facilities.

Vondra was the chair of the Department of Geological and Atmospheric Sciences from 1991-97. He is a current member of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences' Dean's Advisory Council and received the LAS Distinguished Service Award in 2002.