Education, Field Trips & Outreach - Explore Oregon

Ever want to WORK with other amateurs and professionals in the field?  We participate in interactive labs and field trips exploring Oregon's landscapes.  Trips have taken us to places like the Metolius River to see native plants and to the beach to learn about geology.   

Left: Exploring for licheans on the Metolius.   

Field Trips

Vernonia Geologic History

Date: Saturday, Sept. 25, 8:30 am to 3 pm

Cost: $15 for non-members (families $25), free for members.

We will explore the Keasey Formation near Vernonia of Eocene age, which spans a critical cooling phase in Earth’s history culminating in a global extinction 34 million years ago.  This marine formation preserved the whale fossil mentioned in our October 2020 newsletter. That archaic whale is just one of the animals that did not survive the extermination

We will look for clues about how the rocks making up the formation were formed. Our main activity will be to explore the Eocene age rock layers and look for evidence that tell us of the climate at the time.

Oregon City Geology & Ecology

Date: Saturday, Oct. 23, 9:00 am to 3 pm

Cost:$15 for non-members (families $25), free for members.

The Oregon City (and the Willamette Falls) played a critical role in Oregon’s history not only for Native Americans, but for Euro-Americans who settled there beginning in the early 1800’s. We’ll touch on that history while reviewing the area’s volcanic bedrock geology.  A focus will be on how the Falls formed and changed over time. To do that we’ll see exposures that reveal the bedrock geology and discuss how faulting has affected the landscape. 

We shall also visit the Camassia preserve at West Linn. This place was swept clean to bedrock by Ice Age floods, creating conditions favorable for the camas lily and other native plants. It will be fun to see this place in a fall setting along the 1.4 mile long trail that winds through it. 

Stay tuned for additional field offerings.

Contact Information: (503) 358-9030 or e-mail: blitz124@comcast.net for meeting time and place and logistical details.

Jurassic Dinosaurs - Field Notes From a Paleontologist

This includes a powerpoint tour of the Jurassic Parkland of Wyoming. Search for dinosaur bones in the famous Jurassic and Cretaceous fossil fields of Wyoming, and find the skeleton of the great three-horned dinosaur, Triceratops. Also, discover the only dinosaur fossil from Oregon!  

The presentation draws upon current issues in paleontology to demonstrate problem solving in science, and  it introduces ideas on how we learn about dinosaur lifestyles. Students are encouraged to speculate about how dinosaurs raised their young, how they walked (and ran), and the possible use of such structures as Stegosaurus plates or Triceratops horns. Ideas are presented on how the dinosaurs died out 65 million years ago. Students may also learn about what paleontologists do for a living and what one needs to study to become a paleontologist (details of presentation content depends upon age group).

Following classroom presentations, are hands-on activities in which students handle real bones and teeth of extinct animals. We finish with time for questions and answers. 

Fees: Classroom Presentation: $125

Assembly: $245 

Grades: pre-K through adult. (presentation content depends upon age group).

Length: 1 hour.

Travel charge: Additional fees may apply if travel distance is more than 25 miles. 

For more information or to register, please contact the Association at dtaylor@nwmuseum.org.