Rock On! USU's Rock-n-Fossil Day Goes Virtual March 22-28

Utah State University’s Rock-n-Fossil Day is a long-running annual event that draws rockhounds of all ages to campus to engage in learning activities with scientists from the university’s Department of Geosciences.

“In February 2020, right before the pandemic shut down activities like this, we had more than 1,000 guests at our on-campus, day-long activity,” says Joel Pederson, department head. “I wasn’t sure we could pull off a virtual event, but our event coordinator Ellen Imler is making it happen and I am thankful. We encourage everyone to join us, this year, for online learning fun.”

All are welcome to enjoy 2021 Rock-n-Fossil Day activities and resources online March 22-28 on the department’s event page.

“We are excited to try some new things this year as we pivot to a virtual event,” says Imler, Geosciences staff assistant and event coordinator. “Yes, geology is a hands-on science, but we didn’t want to take one more thing from our community due to the pandemic. We’re thinking ‘outside the building’ and we’ve created a virtual reality, where participants can still learn about rocks, minerals, fossils and geologic processes.”

Among the yearly event’s most popular activities is rock and fossil identification, where guests bring their ‘mystery’ specimens for identification by USU geoscientists.

“Our longtime guests will remember that our scientists always ask them lot of questions about their specimens, such as where they found the rock, is it hard or soft, what do they notice about its colors, shape and texture,” Imler says. “We’ll do something similar online, by providing instructions and asking our participants to ‘think like a geoscientist’ and perform their own investigation at home.”

Other online activities include a virtual tour of the USU Geology Museum, downloadable activities and coloring pages for children, presentations on varied topics including Lake Bonneville, geologic faults and fossil collection in Utah, as well as videos.

“Next year, in 2022, we plan to return to an in-person, Saturday event,” Pederson says. “In the meantime, we hope our virtual event will continue to engage people and get them thinking about how cool geoscience is.”