Project: Geologic Timeline
Funder: National Science Foundation—Geoscience Education
Participants: Doyle Wilson, Principal Investigator; Tim Montbriand, Grants Specialist

Mohave Community College will construct a geologic timeline that correlates continental positions, major geological events, and major life form developments to the chronologically arranged geologic specimens of an existing educational boulder display. The timeline is intended to complement and complete the existing educational display and educate the public about the geology of Mohave County, including the Grand Canyon and characteristic Zion stratigraphy that is part of the geologic structure of Mohave County. Mohave Community College is partnering in this project with the local school district, one of the city’s charter high schools, and a local gem and mineral club.

The intellectual merit of the project is demonstrated in three ways. First, it will provide members of the community (the public) with a scientific and structured understanding of the geologic environment which surrounds them. Second, it will provide the students of the partner schools with an educational resource for the study of local geology. And third, the timeline will present the science faculty members of the partner schools with an opportunity to engage in intellectual development and expand their knowledge of geology.

The geologic timeline, in conjunction with the educational boulder display, will concentrate in one place a wide variety of the geological wonders that are scattered throughout Mohave County. Viewers of the geologic timeline will be able to experience geological detail up close and will develop a perspective on the relationships between the earth’s development, geologic events, and the development of life. The broader impact of this project will be to instill in the public, and to instill in the faculty and students of the College’s partner institutions an initial and enduring interest in the study and appreciation of the geosciences.