Lydia at Muktinath

Author: Lydia Quinn | Major: Civil Engineering | Semester: Summer 2023

This summer, I participated in SIT’s Geosciences in the Himalaya program. The program is six weeks long, in various places in Nepal. The program begins and ends in Kathmandu, with a three week trek through the Himalayas and into the Mustang region – Nepal’s equivalent of Tibet, and one week studying in Pokhara.

Throughout my summer in Nepal, I completed an intensive study of Himalayan geology. While trekking up the Kali Gandaki river, I learned about the formation of the Himalayas and its different geologic units from Dr. Ananta Gajurel, one of the foremost Nepali geologists. I became adept at identifying various rocks and minerals in the field. At the peak of our trek, in the village of Kagbeni in the Mustang region, I studied sedimentary geology with a focus on identifying depositional environments. On our trek back down the Kali Gandaki, me and my partner, a student at Tribhuvan University Prithvi Narayan Campus, studied construction materials and techniques through interviews with local peoples. After our trek, we spent a week in Pokhara studying geohazards, with an emphasis on landslides. We ended our program by completing an independent study project. I spent ten days studying and writing a paper on Traditional Newari architecture, a historic architecture style seen in Kathmandu valley, and how the style incorporates earthquake resistant technologies. For this study, I received a lot of help from the National Society for Earthquake Technology – Nepal. Our program commenced with every student of the group giving a presentation over their research topic, which provided an incredible opportunity to learn about a lot of interesting geosciences topics in Nepal. While our courses were exceptional, we also learned a lot about Nepali culture. During our orientation, we had a culture class as well as three Nepali language classes. Throughout the rest of the program, we learned more Nepali phrases and more about the culture and religions of Nepal. The three Nepali students who were a part of our program were especially helpful in learning about modern Nepali culture. Overall, I learned a ton on this program, both about geology, as well as about Nepal as a whole.

An aspect of the culture that surprised me in Nepal was the spirituality. While Nepal is a predominantly Hindu country with a large Buddhist population, the intermixing of religions and belief systems in Nepal is widespread. It is not uncommon to see a temple covered in statues of both the Buddha and Shiva, Vishnu, or countless other Hindu gods or goddesses. Sometimes you can even find a cross or the star of David on these temples. At higher elevations, and closer to China, the Buddhist population grows significantly. That said, I also witness more practices that would be seen as “pagan” in the U.S. Once, while we were trekking, we crossed a metal swinging bridge. I looked down as I was crossing, and saw a severed goat head swinging below me. Across the bridge, about ten severed goat heads were hanging. While this was obviously a very eerie sight, I later talked to a Tibetan culture scholar, who informed me that it was to ward off evil. Throughout the rest of our time in that part of the country, we saw countless goat heads, though usually not real ones, hanging above doors, bridges, and allies. This indicator of spirituality that is not necessarily religion was something that I did not expect to experience while in Nepal, but that proved to be very common.

Overall, SIT’s Geosciences in the Himalaya program is a very unique and incredible program. It is very intense, especially the trekking portion, and challenged me in some unexpected ways, both physically and mentally. I would highly recommend this program to anyone seeking an adventure in a geoscience related field, even if your major is not geology itself. While you don’t need to be an athlete to complete this program, some level of physical fitness will be very helpful. I’m very excited to return to the United States and employ everything that I have learned this summer in my normal life. My experiences in Nepal were oftentimes very strange, challenging, and enlightening. I am so grateful to the Honors College for helping me have such a wonderful once in a lifetime experience.