The Department of Geological & Atmospheric Sciences is proud to announce that we are well along in our second phase of renovation of the Carl F. Vondra Geology Field Station. During Phase I, which was completed in 2010, we built a fabulous new main building with kitchen, dining room/classroom, and staff quarters. For Phase II, we are constructing two dormitory buildings, each with six bedrooms that can accommodate up to four people, as well as a third building with a classroom on one side and a laundry with two toilets and two showers on the other side. With this project we will have a world-class facility commensurate with the long-standing excellence of our field program and that is already being sought out for use by a host of outside academic and industry groups. The Phase II renovation was made possible through the generosity of Tom and Evonne Smith, with a major supplementary gift from Gary and Sandra Johnson.

To celebrate this spectacular new field station, we invite you to join us at camp this summer for a weekend of fun-filled events. Special guests will include our Dean, Beate Schmittmann, and, tentatively, Iowa State University President Steven Leath. Our previous alumni gatherings at field camp have been absolutely wonderful. We expect this one to be the biggest and best ever.