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Grand Canyon Conservancy Field Institute
Meet GCC Field Institute Instructor: Melissa Giovanni
By Mindy Riesenberg
Grand Canyon Conservancy’s Field Institute instructors are leading experts in their fields, from archaeology to geology, from history to photography, and more. In this issue of Canyon Views, we introduce you to geologist Melissa Giovanni, who has been an instructor since 2016.
Giovanni’s path to becoming a Field Institute instructor began when she attended the 2015 Field Institute Hiking Guide Training Seminar with a friend. “At that point, I knew nothing about Grand Canyon Conservancy (then Association) or the Field Institute,” she says. “I had spent many years leading geology field camps around the Colorado Plateau, and as I sat listening to the talks, I found myself thinking, ‘I could give one of these!’”
With her usual gumption, Giovanni went up to the Field Institute’s Senior Program Manager, Jack Pennington, introduced herself, gave him her card, and told him she’d like to get involved. That summer, she joined Wayne Ranney’s “Geology on the Edge” course. “Hiking around the canyon with Wayne is like visiting the Sistine Chapel with Michelangelo,” says Giovanni. “My little geologist mind was blown and I was completely hooked.” By spring 2016, Giovanni was leading her first trip for the Field Institute.
Giovanni has a B.S. in geology from the University of Arizona and a Ph.D. in geology from UCLA. She loves teaching, and prior to working with Grand Canyon Conservancy, she developed and taught a five-week field camp focusing on the evolution of the Colorado Plateau. When she’s not leading hikes in Grand Canyon, she’s a tenured professor of environmental science at the College of Southern Nevada.
Mindy Riesenberg, Grand Canyon Conservancy’s Director of Marketing and Communications, talked with Giovanni to learn more:
Mindy Riesenberg: What does your role as an instructor entail? Melissa Giovanni: My top two priorities are safety and fun. I want to ensure everyone’s health and well-being to guarantee the fun. Our students come ready to soak up all things Grand Canyon, so that makes the teaching part of my job easy! And one part of the job that I take very seriously is the delivery of spectacularly bad jokes along the Devil’s Corkscrew. MR: What do you love about being a Field Institute instructor? MG: The incredible people I get to work with. Canyon legends, rangers, river runners. And on every trip I get to experience the canyon for the first time again through the eyes of my guests. One of my favorite things to do on a trip is watch my guests experience a truly dark sky for the first time. MR: What advice do you have for people planning to take a Field Institute hike? MG: Physical preparation is important but mental preparation is often overlooked. I don’t mean mentally preparing for the physical challenge—folks are great at doing that. I mean preparing to give yourself over completely to the experience. Open yourself up to unexpectedness. It’s hard to describe but prepare for a completely different pace of existence. As I like to say during orientations, I generally live life at about a million miles per hour, but Grand Canyon is the one place where I do not want to move fast. Embrace the geologic pace of the canyon. Move slowly. Just BE in this place. The canyon will do the rest.
“I am so incredibly grateful to be part of the Grand Canyon Conservancy Field Institute in service of the park’s mission to educate visitors on the
significance of Grand Canyon and help them experience its magic.” – Melissa Giovanni
