Yosemite National Park Experience Essay

The sciences have managed to encapsulate my intrigue throughout my life, an intrigue that has pushed me to seize many opportunities that enrich my knowledge towards the sciences. UW-Eau Claire offered a Domestic Intercultural Experience to Yosemite National Park in May of 2016 that I had the blessing of attending. A squadron of Eau Claire college students accompanied by two professors of the University flew to California for nine days to explore the natural geologic beauty of Yosemite National Park. We packed our experience with multiple hikes around the park as well as a few presentations and talks that discussed the history of the park and how it was formed. Being surrounded by massive walls of plutonic rock made me realize the awesome power of nature that comes in the form of glaciers. Mono Lake was also a part of the agenda on the immersion experience. At the lake, we learned that its salinity is caused by the lack of an outflow for the lake and we discovered the volcanic history of the Mono basin. During the same summer I was gawking at Mono Lake, I also road tripped to Glacier and Banff National Parks with a few friends. We not only had the opportunity to see some of the most magnificent mountain ranges, we were also able to see the receding glaciers that formed the unique geologic formations.
I have been honored with the opportunity to assist in collaborative research with professors Brian Mahoney and Steve Sellwood as well as several other students on our western Wisconsin baseline water chemistry project. We were able to attend and present our data at the American Water Resources Association Conference in March, 2017 and will be presenting our data at CERCA on campus in April. The geology department also provided the MSHA 24-hour new miner training that expanded my understanding of the vast sand mining industry that is home to