Laboratory Manual for Earth Science

Give students the most hands-on, applied, and affordable lab experience.

Laboratory Manual for Earth Science engages students with Earth science concepts through an ideal balance of hands-on activities, quantitative calculations, map-based exercises, and critical thinking questions. “Geotours” and “What Do You Think?” exercises in every chapter define the manual’s unique emphasis on applying lab work to real-world site explorations and considering how Earth science concepts inform their lives and the world around them. And a low price with flexible custom options ensures students get the most affordable lab experience.

Jessica Olney: Jessica is an associate professor of Earth Science at Hillsborough Community College. Her research has ranged from studying Ice-Rafted Debris in Ocean Sediment Cores, to Igneous Petrology and Volcanology/Geochemistry in Central Utah and Nicaragua. She has been teaching since graduate school, first as a laboratory teaching assistant in the classroom and on field trips (Ohio State and Northern Illinois); in the summers she was an elderhostel lecturer (Northern Illinois), and in 2004, she was employed as the geologist at Capulin Volcano National Park, New Mexico as part of the Geological Society of America’s GeoCorps America Program (Geologist-in-the Park) where she led interpretive programs, worked on the Capulin’s National Park Service website (science and nature), and participated in the removal of invasive plant species from the park. Since that time, she has taught Physical Geology at Florida State University as a visiting assistant professor, and as an adjunct faculty member in Earth Science at Tallahassee Community College. As of 2007, she has been a full-time faculty member at Hillsborough Community College (Ybor City Campus), earning tenure in 2011. Currently, she teaches lecture and laboratory courses in Earth Science, Physical Geology, and Oceanography.

Allan Ludman is a Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Queens College―part of the City University of New York. He has devoted more than four decades to deciphering the evolution of the Northern Appalachians through field and laboratory studies in Maine and New Brunswick. He has taught introductory geology for over 40 years and supervised the laboratories for over 35 years. Over the last two decades, Ludman has directed a K-12 science teacher development program in southern New York State influenced by hands-on, inquiry-based Earth Systems research.

Stephen Marshak is the author or coauthor of six best-selling geoscience textbooks published by W. W. Norton. He is professor emeritus in the Department of Earth Science and Environmental Change and director emeritus of the School of Earth, Society, and Environment at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, where he received multiple campus-level teaching awards. He was also honored with the Neil Miner Award from the National Association of Geoscience Teachers for his “exceptional contributions to stimulating interest in Earth Science.”

Robert Rauber is a Professor of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, where he was Department Head for twelve years, and now serves as Director of the School of Earth, Society, & Environment. He holds a B.S. in Physics and a B.A. in English from the Pennsylvania State University, as well as an M.S. and Ph.D. in Atmospheric Sciences from Colorado State University. He oversees a research program that focuses on the development and behavior of storms, which takes him on some rather exciting flights into the midst of severe weather. Bob has won campus teaching awards, is a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society (AMS), and serves as the publication commissioner for the AMS. In addition to authoring many research papers, Bob has co-authored Earth Science, Laboratory Manual for Earth Science, Severe and Hazardous Weather: An Introduction to High Impact Meteorology, and a new book, Radar Meteorology, A First Course.