Helen FieldsScience Writer

This week I happen to have gone on a lot of geology-related reporting trips around town. I’m sorry I never took geology in college. Carleton has a great geology department, and the geology majors always seemed to have fun. All those field trips, you know.

Actually, the field trips are probably why I never took geology. I had a tendency, when I was in my late teens, to get a little whiny when I was out in the field. I have mostly outgrown this. Or, more accurately, I have grown the ability to tell my whiny self to shut up, and also the knowledge that I must pack snacks. Anyway, as a biology major, I already had to take lots of lab classes, so adding another lab to the schedule would’ve been rough. Especially a lab where you got muddy. (I don’t think the mud would bother me now! See? Growth!)

Anyway, this week I’ve gotten a crash course in geology. Seriously, on Monday when I went on the meteorite visit, I didn’t know what a mineral was. The next day, with the help of Wikipedia and a friend who did major in geology at Carleton, I figured it out. Whew.

Oh, so now you want to know what a mineral is, too? Ok. A mineral is, like, a really pure rock, with a chemical structure you can write down. Kind of. I know, I just gave any geologist readers major chest pains. Don’t worry, I’ll refine this description by the time I have to write my story.