24 ACUMEN • SPRING 2025 Life on the road with legendary rock group Van Halen in the 1980s was characterized by hedonistic excesses and imperious contract demands—like insisting that all of the brown M&Ms be removed from bowls of the candy backstage. For participants in the department of Earth and environmental sciences annual traveling Field Camp, where students visit and collect data or document observations in 10 national parks— including Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons, and the Badlands—life on the road is much more tame, but no less fun and rewarding. Students travel across the country in a caravan of assigned vans: Van One, Van Two, and so on. After a few days, the students stop responding to their call signs on the radio and instead come up with their own names for their vans. On one of the trips, one of the vans became “Van Halen.” For associate professor and Field Camp director Steve Peters, that’s part of what makes the fun and challenging experience, which is about to celebrate its 50th anniversary, so unique. “The names were all pretty clever,” Peters said. “But those students that are all in one van become incredibly tightly bonded during the trip, and many keep in touch with each other after the camp is over.” An EES Tradition The Lehigh University Field Camp was conceived in 1975 by the late professor Ed Evenson, who directed it for 30 years. Today, Peters directs the camp with the help of professor Frank Pazzaglia, as well as graduate students. The camp begins in early summer, returning to the Lehigh Valley before the 4th of July. It consists of several multi-day, multi-partner field projects where students make and record field observations, discern field relationships, and learn the concepts of geological mapping—all with an eye towards development as a professional earth scientist. Students pay a fee to participate in the field camp, which covers everything—tuition, access fees, lodging, travel, and food—but there is financial support available. “One of the things we have done over the years is create a fund that relies on donations from our generous alumni,” Peters said. “The alumni have donated money every year; and it’s phenomenal, because the students they’re enabling to go really value and appreciate their experience.” On the Road with “Van” Halen STEVE NEUMANN Participants in Lehighs traveling Field Camp come as students but leave as professionals
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