To get started, complete an application and examine the Non-Clemson Student information if not currently enrolled at Clemson.

2023 in-person attendees at Mammoth Cave NP, KY

The Clemson Hydrogeology Field Camp is a capstone experience for undergraduate degrees in Geology and graduate students in Hydrogeology or Engineering. The camp is designed to give the student a working knowledge of the methods and concepts of field hydrogeology and to provide the opportunity to use those methods in several hydrogeologic settings.  The course is led by instructors from Clemson, but other geologists, hydrogeologists, and scientists from other universities and consulting companies lead trips and exercises in their particular expertise.  

The course begins with a review of principles and methods which are reinforced through field exercises on the Clemson campus.  We are in the field every day unless the weather is severe.  Topics include spatial mapping, well drilling, water quality and sampling, well testing, soil properties, airflow through the vadose zone, hydraulic fracturing, and near-surface geophysical methods. There are field trips that visit different hydrogeologic settings.  One is to the Mammoth Cave area in Kentucky and to a well field near Knoxville, TN.  A variety of trips are made to the Blue Ridge and Piedmont regions near Clemson, where the local geology is explored, such as the Chattooga River trip. These trips vary from year to year depending on logistics.

Many of the projects involve collaborating with others in a group setting.  This is necessary because some of the methods, like surveying, cannot be done individually.  Also, it is often helpful to work with others while learning a new technique.  Graduate students are required to write several reports during field camp in addition to the assignments given to the undergraduate students.