|
Alumni
Tim Shin
Who could ask for more: a month of field work in one of
the most beautiful and geologically diverse countries in the world? I was
privileged enough to participate in the valuable experience of field work in
Turkey. My 2009 summer with the NSF-IRES in Turkey definitely has been my
favorite geological experience yet.
Turkey has such a diverse and complex geological setting that within hours of
our home base in Ankara, we were able to see some of the most exciting portions
of geology; Turkey has jaw-dropping metamorphic, igneous, and sedimentary
structures. It seems to me that nearly everything you learn about in college is
available in dramatic physical form in Turkey. Some of my favorite things
include: fairy chimneys, vertical overturned beds, large ash deposits, columnar
basalts, garnets, mélanges, eclogite-blueschist pods, and
kyanite-sillimanite-andalusite triple-point bearing rocks! From strike-slip to
detachment faults, Turkey is a geological hotbed.
Another important learning lesson of the IRES program was the opportunity to
participate in real field work and getting to see how different kinds of
geologists (some from Turkey, some from the US) work out geological problems in
a setting that is new to them; this isn’t like your field class where your
professor always knows the answer.
As for the cultural aspect of Turkey: I love food, especially trying new food. I
consider myself somewhat of a foodie and Turkey was paradise in the variety and
pure deliciousness of the food. Turkish people are very big on their foods and I
would consider their cuisine to be a contender with the likes of Italian and
French cuisine. I loved the grilled foods and meat dishes such as my personal
favorite: Iskender Kebab. Also, the dolmas are to die for. Turkey also has a
very rich culture which I wish for more people to find out about on their own.
We got to visit amazing archeological sites and historical sites that were more
than 7000 years old!
The people I got to interact with are some of my favorite people in the world.
Dr.’s Catlos and Çemen were wonderful to work with and I continue to work with
Dr. Catlos to this day. The other students and I absolutely had a great time and
we always hung out. The Turkish students were a riot and we correspond
periodically. Dr. Catlos would describe the US students and the Turkish students
as inseparable and that is pretty much an accurate description. They were so
much fun to interact with, learn from, teach things to, and invaluable to our
expedition.
|
