As part of PSDS’s natural hazard vulnerability work with the NPS, four WCU geology students/recent alums, Courtney Hartman, Holly Hurding-Jones, Eliza Hurst, and Richard Pedigo, are mapping landslides in Yellowstone National Park this summer. Last month, they were joined by Eric Bilderback (NPS Geomorphologist), Doug Anderson (DOT Engineering Geologist), Nick Farny (DOT Engineering Geologist), and Jeff Hungerford (Yellowstone Park Geologist, not pictured) for a week of landslide training and field work. The students will remain in the park mapping landslides through mid-July.

Sand, a fossil resource that takes millions of years to form, is being depleted at alarming rates through its continued use in marketed commercial goods and construction materials. Learn more about the depletion of Earth’s sands here.