Setting the Stage

Before beginning getting to deep into this blog about my experiences in Australia, I feel that there is a need to outline some parts of the trip.  

Location: South Australia.  Primarily the Flinder's Mountain Ranges in Central South Australia.  

Plot: We are investigating/mapping/sampling rocks found in/near/around the Trezona Formation.

Time: Six weeks (Updates will be posted whenever we are near an Internet connection)

Characters:

Erica Wallstrom (aka the author of this blog - me) is a Carleton College, geology graduate, former wilderness ranger, currently employed as  a high school earth science teacher.  I feel as though I have been thrown back into a former life of camping, hiking, and field work.  While all of these skills may be compared to riding a bike, I feel as though my bike may be a tad rusty and do well to have a bit of a tune up.  

Adam Maloof is a good friend, fellow Carleton grad, and Professor at Princeton University.  I never knew Adam at Carleton even though our tenure overlapped by two years.  Instead, I met him one summer a few years ago  on Isle au Haut.  He always shares stories about the unusual and foreign  places he visits during his field research.   I would get snapshots of his adventures through the colorful stories and exotic olive oils he brought back as gifts.  Last year, while a group of us were kayaking through the Penobscot Bay in Maine, I asked Adam if he ever needs field assistants.  I like to think that he was as excited about recruiting me, as I was about being recruited.

Catherine Rose (Croser as she is called) is the spunky British, pHD student that I have had the great fortune of working with in the field.  She never ceases to surprise me.  She is a self proclaimed foul mouthed, negative, unemotional, meat eating, Brit.  While there may be some truth to this identity (she does swear quite a bit, but it is so endearing with the British accent), I have found her to be a wonderful teacher that is incredibly supportive and helpful as I bumble through the geology and pull from knowledge I have not thought about for over a decade.  As far as the meat eating bit, she has turned a new leaf and has joined me in trying out the Vegan lifestyle.  

Jon  Husson is another pHD student entering his third year at Princeton.  While he is working on his own field work, we have overlapped quite a bit and camped in the same area.  Jon is very easy going and makes you feel so welcome.  While he works lick clockwork until the last hours of winter sun is available in the afternoons, he takes a relaxed attitude in the morning as we start the day with a fun (if not skill challenged) round of hacky sack.  

Christine Chen is working as Jon's field assistant.  She is a soft spoken, junior, under grad from Princeton.  She is the perfect match for Jon as she too is laid back and easy going.  In the field, you know Christine is coming because she sings to herself as she walks.  Her laugh is contagious and she is always game for anything.

Catherine, Jon, me, Christine
Last day at the group campsite