Billy Basalt is born

Willy Girard first picked Bloomsburg University as his college of choice because of its proximity to his home. Coincidently, the EGGS 330 Special Topics in Field Geology course took him far away from home.

“I think environmental geoscience gives you such a wide base of knowledge,” said Girard, a senior environmental geoscience major. “You get a little bit of everything that EGGS has to offer.”

Flying to Southern California with 10 of his peers and three professors, he learned more than he ever could have gotten in a classroom. The class went to multiple geologic sites every day, focusing on the landscapes and geomorphology of Southern California.

“The Palm Canyon Trail at Anza-Borrego really tied together everything we learned in the classroom,” Girard said. “You don’t get a sense of how big an alluvial fan is until you’re walking on one.”

Alluvial fans were one of the larger geological topics covered on the trip, mainly because Southern California is one of the best places to view them in plain sight nearly everywhere you go. The hike up the Palm Canyon Trail also dubbed Girard with his nickname for the rest of the trip: Billy Basalt.

“I saw this big boulder of just basalt,” said Girard, who gave a presentation later in the week on Amboy Crater, which is made up of mostly basalt as well, solidifying the nickname.

You may have also heard Girard’s name because of his Bloomsburg University wrestling career. He made it to nationals this past season for Huskies. According to Girard, wrestling at meets isn’t very different from field camp.

“We’re up early in the morning, grinding all day, then doing it again on repeat,” he said.

Cynthia Venn has had a large influence on Girard and is the reason he came on the trip in the first place.

“Dr. Venn said I would really love doing this, and she was right,” Girard said. “I had a really great time.”