From political science to Earth science

Dalton Breeding wasn’t always interested in geology. In fact, when he came to Missouri State, he was a political science major with a history minor.

“I was taking environmental geology and the instructor invited me to go on one of the field trips with another course,” he said. “I really enjoyed the field trip, so I started talking to him about potential career paths and that kind of thing and I’ve always been a fan of the outdoors.”

Geology allows me to mix an academically rigorous field with the outdoors, which is kind of perfect for me.

A new hobby

Through his interest in geology, Breeding discovered his love for rock climbing.

“I didn’t start climbing until I came to Missouri State and I saw that we had a climbing wall and came down and started climbing and found a really neat community,” Breeding said.

“Climbing is unlike most sports in that no one is competing with you. It’s more you and yourself trying to push your own personal limits and as a result, the community is very positive and encouraging.”

It’s not only a hobby for Breeding, but it also allows him to focus on improving himself.

Through the geology department, he has traveled across the United States, visiting state parks in New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Washington.

He took it one step further this past summer and completed his field course, a short internship, in the Spanish Pyrenees in Spain. Most students do their field course within their state, but Breeding had always wanted to study away.

“I had never been out of the U.S. before, so I wanted to have an international experience,” he said. “We were out there for five weeks doing geologic mapping and a number of different field exercises.”

Best of both worlds

One of the reasons Breeding decided to attend Missouri State was because of its size. He was happily surprised to notice his class sizes met his academic needs.

“When I came to Missouri State, I was expecting a big school. I found that as I got into my program area, I was able to have the best of both worlds,” he said. “My academic studies and courses were as for the most part in a smaller group setting, usually 25 people or fewer.”

Throughout his years at MSU, his love for geology has grown tremendously and a lot of that has to do with his professors.

“I really feel the geology department on a whole is a pretty close-knit community, and I feel like I’ve been able to develop individual relationships with almost every one of the faculty members,” he said.

Breeding has found new hobbies, jobs, experiences and more of himself through geology and he hopes to continue growing in his field.

After graduating in December, his plan is to pursue a master’s degree in structural geology, so he can help try to figure out how to safely, responsibly and economically use minerals for economic purposes.