Five Bates students recently presented work at the Geological Society of America’s Northeastern regional conference held last month in Burlington, Vt. The geology department at Bates College requires a senior thesis project from it’s majors and much of the work presented by students was the results of thesis work, said Mike Retelle, associate professor of geology at Bates, who attended the conference with the students.

“It’s not required that students go to a conference like this, but we suggest they do it as a way of presenting their work and making connections,” he said. Retelle studies arctic environmental and climate change and has taken students on research trips to the Arctic. “The best way for students to learn is to be involved in research,” he said.

Bates is one of a few geology departments in the country that requires a thesis, giving Bates students a leg up in graduate school, where a master’s thesis defense is common, or the professional world, where presenting and defending findings are neccessary skills. The conference was attended by nearly 900 geoscientists from New England, and Retelle said he felt the work presented by Bates students was equal to or above the quality of the other work presented.