Nauman Geology Fund

Since 2021, an annual generous donation from Clynt and Jan Nauman has enabled an expansion in our field geology teaching. This funding enables us to enhance our teaching of geological field mapping skills in areas such as the structural and stratigraphic interpretation of basic field mapping data.

Funding has been used for:

• An annual field expedition for all of our 300-level undergraduates to the West Coast of the South Island where they develop skills in mapping basement rocks in the Southern Alps and outcrops along the Alpine Fault continental plate boundary between the Pacific and Australian plates.
• An annual field expedition for all of our 400-level students (Honours and new postgraduates) to examine the geology of regions farther away from the familiar outcrops of Otago such as the northern Alpine Fault, Marlborough Fault System, HIkurangi accretionary margin, Taupō Volcanic Zone, and Whanganui and Taranaki Basins.

Funding has also supported field initiatives that involve substantial independent work, which is something that we feel that we do very well through our independent research projects at 300-level and beyond.

All funded activities include a component of student assessment in geological field mapping.

Find out more about our field teaching

The Naumans

Clynt and Jan Nauman are both geologists. Clynt graduated from our department with a BSc (Hons) in 1972 and Jan from Western Washington University in the USA. Now retired from careers related to mining in North America, they have established a retirement home back in Otago in Wānaka.

For his BSc (Hons) project, Clynt was supervised by Chuck Landis and Tony Reay. He spent four weeks mapping in the remote Skippers Range between the Hollyford and Pyke Rivers. Clynt considers his field time at 400-level as being foundational to the success he achieved in his career as a geologist in Canada and the USA.