The GEOFYRST Experience
How would you like to get hands-on science lab experience, meet faculty members, and make friends in a beautiful outdoor environment? Sign up for GEOFYRST and you can do all that – and earn your first SUNY Oneonta college credit – before the fall semester even begins!
GEOFYRST stands for Geologic Experience Outdoors: The First-Year Regional Summer Trip and it’s a special program for first-year students and new transfers. The week before classes start, faculty from our Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Department will take a group of incoming students on a six-day field trip in the Adirondack Mountains to explore the geology of the Northeastern United States.
In between scientific investigations, you’ll have a lot of fun camping, hiking, cooking and forging new and long-lasting friendships. (No camping experience is necessary, and some camping gear will be provided.) You will earn one college lab credit during the trip, and you don’t have to be a science major to apply! Students from all majors are welcome.
Learn about the GEOFYRST Experience from previous trips.
Commonly asked questions about GEOFYRST:
- The trip provides a first-year experience.
- Fosters a welcoming, inclusive environment in which a cohort of students can build life-long friendships and networks
- Engages students new to the SUNY Oneonta community
- Introduces students to life on campus through junior and senior mentors
- The outdoors will be our classroom!
- Focuses on the Adirondack Mountains
- Exposes students to the outdoor environment through geology to gain an appreciation of how the Earth works – important in the environmental field
The cost of the trip is $100 per student.
- Hat—preferably wide brim to shade the ears/neck
- Sunglasses
- Hiking shoes (need sturdy shoes for activities)
- Sunscreen
- Warm jacket
- Gloves
- Rain jacket
- Undergarments
- Long-sleeved and short-sleeved shirt
- Several pair of socks
- A pair of long pants and shorts
- Swimsuit
- Toiletries and personal items
- Towel
- Flip flops or shower sandals
- Sleeping bag (to 25°F)
- Sleeping pad
- Flashlight/headlamp
- Eating utensils (fork, spoon, knife, plate/bowl, cup)
- Water bottles
- Camera (optional)
- Whistle (in case you get lost)
- Clipboard
- Pencils (mechanical pencils, or wood pencils with sharpener)
- Pens and Permanent Marker
- Protractor/6” ruler
- Charger for cell phone/electronic devices
- Medium size duffel bag for clothes, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, personal items
- PLEASE NOTE: No hard-sided suitcases! Duffel bags only!
- Day pack for lunch/snack items, pockets for water bottles, room for rain jacket, misc. tools
Please contact Scott Maguffin (scott.maguffin@oneonta.edu) or Dr. Keith Brunstad (keith.brunstad@oneotna.edu) if you have questions.
- On the day of the trip, students will drop off their personal belongings in their dorm room. We will coordinate with Residential Life to set this up.
- Once you've dropped off your belongings, everyone will meet at a designated location for departure.
- Everyone will travel in mini-vans or transit vans.
- Everyone will be overnight camping for the duration of the trip. No camping experience is needed! We will supply tents. You'll just need to bring a sleeping bag and pad.
- All meals will be cooked at camp.
- Our last night of camping will be at the SUNY Oneonta Biological Field Station. Check it out here: Biological Field Station
- We will return to campus on move-in day, so you can meet your roommate and unpack your belongings.
