Earth Science Displays

The department hosts a number of visual displays within our buildings that highlight various mineral collections and geological themes. These displays are open to the public during business hours for viewing and appreciation.

Mineral Collections

1st and 2nd floors, Cascade Hall, and 1st floor Columbia Hall. The Department has on public display extensive collections of museum-quality mineral specimens. The vast majority of these were donated by collectors or their heirs, and most mineral groups are represented. One case is located in the main entry to Cascade Hall, three others are in the main hallway on the first floor of Cascade Hall, adjacent to the Goles Meteorite Collection, and a fourth on the second floor of Cascade Hall, across from the main conference room. Another two cases of display-quality material are in the hallway of the first floor of Columbia Hall.

Volcanology Display

This display on the first floor of Cascade Hall features several particularly nice specimens of volcanic rocks, including pumice, pahoehoe, obsidian, welded tuff, mingled magma, and vesicular basalt, against a photographic backdrop showing the interior of North Sister Volcano which has been revealed by glacial erosion.

Surveying, Then and Now Display

This display in the hallway of the 3rd floor of Cascade Hall features many of the tools of “old-fashioned” surveying, including a hard hat, compasses, a theodolyte, a plumb bob, and an altimeter, set against a backdrop of a modern digital elevation model derived from satellite measurements.

Cascade Courtyard

The courtyard surrounding the fountain in the courtyard of Cascade Hall is itself a geology display. It was originally intended to consist of just dark grey basalt stepping stones set among red bricks but as construction proceeded, many faculty members in the Department donated specimens from their personal and research collections to add greater diversity. Happily, the contractor agreed to incorporate them and set them in concrete as construction proceeded. In all, 67 such specimens are included including a particularly rich variety of coarse-grained metamorphic rocks, some fossil-bearing sedimentary rocks, and a wide variety of volcanic rocks.

Earth Sciences Alumni Network

Alumni like you are traveling the world, building careers, and discovering new knowledge about how earth systems function. We’d love to know more about where you are and what you’re doing — see our survey below — and also share success stories of other alumni. We invite you to support current students in making their experience at the UO a strong foundation for future careers.

Undergraduate Advisors/Coordinators

Rebecca Dorsey 
Head advisor

Email: rdorsey@uoregon.edu 
Phone: 541-346-4431
Office: 305D Cascade Hall
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Alli Poole 
Undergraduate coordinator

Email: poolea@uoregon.edu
Phone: 
Office: 
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Marla Trox 
Graduate coordinator

Email: mtrox@uoregon.edu 
Phone: 541-346-4669
Office: 100 Cascade Hall
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