The AAPG Foundation continued its longstanding connection to geological outreach when it once again sponsored the Geology Merit Badge program at the latest Scout Jamboree last summer, a 12-day adventure typically held once every four years. This event attracted nearly 15,000 Scouts, Venturers and Explorers to the Summit Bechtel Reserve Scout Camp near Beckley, W.Va.
The Jamboree is sponsored by the Boy Scouts of America. The 2023 event, held in July, was the first in the post-pandemic era.
The event, limited in size due to BSA budgetary concerns, drew more than 12,000 Scouts – including more than 1,500 girls, who can now participate in Scouting units.
Of note, this event marked the first time girls participated in the Jamboree’s offer of working toward a Geology Merit Badge.
AAPG Contribution
The AAPG Foundation’s role includes financial support for the expenses in providing materials and in forming a “team” of AAPG volunteers who help Scouts work toward earning the Badge.
The 2023 initiative included four AAPG members who volunteered their expertise and sharing spirit to help the Scouts – Ron Hart of Tulsa, Gary Robinson of Aurora, Colo., Bill Haworth of Bush, La. and AAPG Distinguished Award-recipient Bob Webster of Irving, Texas, who also is an AAPG Foundation Trustee Associate.
Other participants included a “home team” – those who helped prepare for the event but didn’t attend – including AAPG members Rick Erickson of Tulsa) and Bill Underwood of Oklahoma City.
The AAPG members teamed with six geologists from the West Virginia Survey – including AAPG member James Britton and Randy Toth, who attended the 2013 as a Scout and earned the Geology Merit Badge – and together they taught geology to the Scout-aged youth and helped introduce them to the local geological setting and area’s mineral resources.
“Our assignment was traditional – our team organized a classroom and science museum experience, designed to teach youths about geology,” Hart said.
The geology classroom was a well-placed tent located among a cluster of other merit badge tents.
“We hosted twice-daily classes, a rock and mineral collection for visitors to inspect and touch, and a continuous stream table to demonstrate erosion, deposition and stream processes,” Hart added.
Team members also were able to answer questions that were specific to the locale, including many about coal mining, hydraulic fracturing and local geology.
“Scouting certainly gives us exposure to many outstanding young citizen-scientists in the 14-18 age range,” Hart said, “just starting to formulate their career path and education plans.”
In all, the tent attracted nearly 250 visitors, with 151 Scouts earning their Geology Merit Badge.
How to Get Involved
Details of the next Jamboree are pending – but whenever it is held, BSA officials said it will once again be held at the Summit Bechtel Family Reserve.
And odds are, AAPG and the AAPG Foundation will once again be leading the way to help young people learn about and connect with geology – AAPG has been part of the outreach for decades.
Interested in being part of the team?
- For more information on contributing to the Foundation’s support of the program, visit the Foundation website at foundation.aapg.org.
- For more information on the program itself and how you can volunteer your time and expertise to help bring geology to a new generation of explorers, contact Ron Hart at [email protected].
“The Team is always looking for a few good men and women,” Hart said. “If you can handle 12 days of Scout camp food, tent camping, lots of fresh air and sunshine, and plenty of fun – drop us a line.”