According to Mukhopadhyay, the department had considered a cap on the number of students who went to Hawaii this year, and the department may have to cap its trips in the future if the number of concentrators continues to grow.

“Our concentration has been growing in numbers, so at some point we will face the possibility of not being able to support every student who would like to go on the trip,” Bloxham said. “Obviously we’re torn...if we couldn’t send everybody we would lose a lot.”

In addition to offering an opportunity for field research, the trips also bring students and faculty from the department closer together, participants said.

“Frankly, we’ve also found that it’s acting as a very effective mechanism for students to get to know each other and faculty on a very informal basis,” Shaw said.

“One of the things that is a huge draw is that it’s a tiny department. You actually get to form a scientific community. You don’t get that with other departments like Ec or Gov,” said Ann E. Kurrasch ’07, who went on the trip.

EPS faculty and concentrators said they doubted that students selecting a concentration would develop a newfound interest in geological formations simply so they could get a free trip to Hawaii.

“I think we trust the students, so we’re not worried about one or two who might try to gain from the system,” said Van Baalen. “Many students who had never really considered concentrating or a career in earth sciences are really turned on to the experience by field trips. These can be life-changing experiences.”

“Senior faculty across the country have become earth scientists because of a field trip experience,” he added.

—Staff writer Tina Wang can be reached at tinawang@fas.harvard.edu.