Waking to the propane blast of water heating for coffee, Tish Varney looks up to see tiny bats swooping along the dawn-lit walls of Grand Canyon.

For David Cole, geology isn’t just a vocation; it runs in his veins, propelling him toward a dream career that’s taken him from the Rockies to Central Asia’s Tien Shan Mountains and back again. That dream found footing in the Fort Lewis College Geology program, which boasts unparalleled access to the Colorado Plateau.