The first thing I did with G.E.M was  to help build the mobile office that we would call home for the duration of our internship. We took a toy hauler, salvaged the parts from the previous mobile office, and built a new one. After weeks of work we had a finished home base for the field that consisted of four folding beds, a bathroom, a shower, a kitchen, and an area to relax, eat, and cool off after a hard days work.
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We left in June for our first trip to the mountains where we stayed for a week and mapped out over 40 abandoned features. During this time we were trained on identifying features such as pits, shafts, and mine adits. We also learned how to use the handheld G.P.S devices to map and describe the features in front of us. There were some amazing views and some good laughs but the work wasn't nearly over.

​We came home for the 4th of July.  After a week, the break was over and we were heading back out into the field. For our second trip, we went to a desert region that was much drier than the mountains we previously studied . The days were long and the sun was hot but we always had a cold drink and a good meal waiting for us when we turned in for the day. We were in this area for about two weeks and everyday was a great experience, with new things coming our way all the time. It seemed like every day there was something new and it was always fun or super interesting. 

The G.E.M. Environmental team gathered this past Friday to install the Little Free Libraries at some of the local Prescott schools. The teachers and students were very excited about the opportunity to exchange their used books for a new story to read! Sticking to G.E.M. Environmental’s mission to get kids interested in the STEM fields, every Little Free Library has been stocked with books about science, technology, engineering, and/or math. Listening to a specific request, we have put a copy of Rachel Ignotofsky’s book Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the World in every Little Free Library that we created! We hope that this book and all the other books that are being donated can inspire girls to find their own passion and help them learn that they have the power to change the world.

Kicking off our fall semester's GEM For STEM lectures, Anthony Araza gave an amazing lecture for Dr. Boyd’s Geology 101 class. Mixing humor with facts, Anthony explained the benefits of getting a career in the STEM fields. He included statistics that demonstrated the increase in STEM jobs as well as the discussing how the average salary for a job in a STEM field is significantly more than most non-STEM field careers. Many students expressed that they enjoyed the lecture and were happy to be exposed to a variety of different careers that they could enter after graduation. There were multiple students who asked Anthony for career advice after the lecture, and he was able to answer all of their questions with detailed examples from his own career as a transport engineer and budget specialist.

We at G.E.M. Environmental are very excited that our first lecture of the semester went so well and are excited to continue our G.E.M. For STEM lecture series! 
For more information on how to volunteer for one of these classroom lectures,
contact our Program Coordinator Madison Link at [email protected].

Thank you to GEM's newest sponsor - Decals By Danelle. They provided some beautiful GEM for STEM decals at a huge discount.

A great big THANK YOU from all of us at GEM!

On September 7th, G.E.M. Environmental held a building event to create Little Free Libraries that will be posted at 3 different schools: Mountain Oak School, Primavera School, and a school with the Prescott Unified School District. In a great show of support, ten volunteers came to help with the building project!

Not only was it amazing to see the support that G.E.M. Environmental gets from community members, we also saw it through the incredible donations that we got to support the project.

Prescott True Value Hardware was the first to show their support by donating one gallon of wood primer, and Home Depot showed their support by donating the rest of the materials needed for free! We also got two dozen donuts donated to us for our hardworking volunteers by one of the favorite local shops, Outlaw Donuts.

it was amazing to see the Prescott community collaborating on a project that could benefit over 500 students! As this event was such a success, and also a lot of fun, we hope that members and supporters of G.E.M. Environmental will continue help us make sustainable impacts in our community.

Thank you to everyone who came out this weekend to help us build Little Free Libraries to be placed around Prescott for the community to enjoy.

Check out our Events page to learn more about upcoming events and how to get involved.

Curious what it's like to be a field intern? G.E.M. Environmental is pleased to share a success story from one of our former field interns, Elliott Hoy. Here’s his experience in his own words:

In the summer of 2019, I spent June and July in the desert exploring old mining districts to find and document abandoned mines for future closures. I worked as an intern through AmeriCorps at G.E.M. Environmental, led by Eric Welsh. This trip gave me the opportunity to learn about Geology and gain further perspective to my future.

I am currently a geology student at Yavapai College in Prescott, Arizona. In the coming semester I will be transferring to NAU in Flagstaff, Arizona to finish my bachelor's degree in geology. Before my time at Yavapai, I spent some time traveling and working in IT. It took me a few years to discover a path in life that I enjoyed so much.

While out in the desert, we lived out of a large trailer built and designed by Eric for the expedition. We had a full kitchen, fold-down bunks, showers, a toilet, and a general living area. Our mornings started with breakfast cooked by one of the team members, based on a rotating chore list. We then prepped our gear and loaded the UTVs before heading off. While out in the field we each had a satellite tablet that was used to document the mining features we each found, then used flagging tape to mark them. Lunch was eaten each day out in the field, usually in the last few hours of each working day. Our goal was to be finished with the days work by 3 or 4pm to beat the afternoon heat.

The work was based around assigning danger ratings to mining features. Working with great geologists, such as Eric and Robert, I was able to learn much more about mineralization and localized faulting.

As the days passed and the life of a field geologist became my life, it put into perspective what future life could be like. Along with geology skills, the creation of a livable space in the trailer and dealings with the hardships of day-to-day life, I also developed life skills that will last well past my graduation date.

Whether you are going into field geology, research, or are unsure of your career direction, I would highly recommend an internship, such as this one. While in school and going to classes it is hard to fully grasp what geology means and the types of people that you will be working with unless you participate in an internship. The large variety of skills you’ll learn along with the unique challenges is a great way to further complete that picture. I hope you enjoyed my story.