47-1 Science in Your Backyard: Three Years of Student-led Research and Community Engagement at Classic Middle Devonian Outcrops Along Salmon Creek (Lansing, NY, USA)

Session: Sharing Geology: Building the Geocommunity Through Creative Engagement (Posters)

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Although Ithaca, New York is famous for its spectacular geology, well-preserved Paleozoic fossils are relatively uncommon near Cornell University due to limited exposure of the Middle Devonian Hamilton Group at the southern end of Cayuga Lake. In contrast, a series of discontinuous stream-bed exposures along Salmon Creek in nearby Lansing (16 km north of campus) provide excellent access to classic Middle Devonian stratigraphy and paleontology, particularly during low stream stage in the summer and fall. Over the past three years, the Pangea Club at Cornell, in partnership with the Snee Graduate Organization, has leveraged this site to lead hands-on field trips aimed at engaging non-academic audiences in the fields of geology and paleontology. These trips have involved more than 150 participants, primarily Cornell undergraduates from non-STEM disciplines, as well as graduate students, faculty, staff, and even members of the local Ithaca community. Participants collaboratively documented stratigraphic and paleontological features, fostering experiential learning and shared scientific ownership. This sustained outreach effort culminated in the development of a comprehensive, publicly available field guidebook about Salmon Creek that synthesizes its geological history, stratigraphy, paleobiology, and paleoecology. The guidebook is hosted on Earth@Home, a free educational platform developed by the Paleontological Research Institution and supported in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (ARPML-250637-OMLS-22). It was also adapted into a temporary exhibition at the Museum of the Earth in Ithaca from August 2024 to January 2025, featuring over 30 fossil specimens collected and donated by field trip participants. Overall, this project demonstrates how place-based field experiences and co-created resources can serve as effective tools for geocommunication, lowering barriers to participation while promoting scientific literacy and community engagement.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 58, No. 2, 2026

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