Amelia Bowers, Education Program Advisor, was awarded one of 18 Pangaea Scholarships by the University of Washington to study geology (specifically evaporites) in Sicily during September 2008. The three-week Exploration Seminar, "Salt, Stratigraphy and Civilization", was created by UW Geology Professors Dr. Jody Bourgeois and Dr. Charlotte Schreiber.
Five UW doctoral students and eight undergraduates traveled together with Amelia, Jody, Charlotte and geology Professor Dr. Stephano Luigli of Modena, Italy. Mt. Etna, a working salt mine, gypsum outcrops and Greek Temples dating to 2400 B.C. were among the wonderful Sicilian sites that the group visited.