Being a field trip leader is a rewarding experience for some people. People who serve as field guides get the opportunity to take people to interesting locations they might have never seen otherwise. In our hobby of Rocks and Minerals, we are looking for places where samples of minerals can be found, such as minerals featuring distinct crystals, or solid minerals, things a lapidary artist would enjoy, to cut and polish. Fossils, natural formations and other odds and ends round out the range of natural science themed excursions. For those individuals who step up to the challenge of field trip leaders and guides, this is my tale, take from it the bits of advice I, Justin Zzyzx, discovered first hand.<\/p>\n
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Over the course of a decade, I have lead mineral collecting field trips for individual clubs I was a member of, clubs I was not a member of, the California Federation of Mineralogical Societies, public field trips to advertise my natural science themed art gallery, paid trips with tickets for Atlas Obscura and for over a year, a private run monthly field trip service. During that time I had to research locations, go on terrible trips, go on amazing trips, get lost, get found, get insurance, advertise, fix cars, fix people, change plenty of tires, pop plenty of tires and met hundreds of great people.<\/p>\n
If you are just thinking of stepping into the ring as a field trip leader, my path starts like many others, going to a local rockhound club. From here your path can follow two directions, simply participating in whatever outings the club has and taking the experience from that, or, by furthering your experience by being a helpful participant and offer to lead additional trips or fill in for the field trip leader a month or two. Many clubs experience a bit of burn out when it comes to field trips. It is a somewhat stressful job to be in charge of a group of people’s entertainment. As such, many clubs find themselves in dry spells when it comes to field trips. Sometimes a little bit of fresh energy is a much needed thing, so check out the local scene and see what the general vibe is towards local collecting spots. Club members can be a wonderful source of information on local collecting spots. In addition to the first hand sources of going on field trips with leaders, there is plenty of research to be done with books, the internet and field research.<\/p>\n
Over the years of field collecting I’ve made it a habit to buy as many field guides from any age and any print style. Locations that might have been popular 80 years ago, then fallen out of favor might resurface from investigating old field guides. Important information that got skipped over in future editions, or vice versa, information in contemporary guides that might save you time! From this information field research can begin, because one of the most important rules of leading a field trip should be…One Should be INTIMATELY FAMILIAR With the Location Before Taking Any Group. For there could be fewer things in life as painful as wasting the time of any number of people expecting you to take them somewhere and understand what the deposit is about.<\/p>\n