Why would a department whose research interests span the globe be thinking about a few feet of earth next to the Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts?

Because that’s where the campus will place a bench commemorating the geology department’s $12,000 gift to the Mondavi Center, the first contribution in the fund-raising campaign for the center from an entire department.

"We wanted everyone to know that the faculty, staff and students of the Department of Geology enthusiastically support the arts," said geology professor Robert Zierenberg, who, with fellow professor Howard Day, helped initiate the gift.

More than 30 faculty and staff members and graduate students contributed to the campaign. Other contributors included members of the Geology Club, which is made up of undergraduate geology majors, and key helpers like graduate student Joe Cain, management services officer Marilyn DeMoss, and staff research associate Sarah Roeske.

"We have a tradition in geology of working together, and so it’s not the least bit surprising that there was such widespread support in the department," said department chair Louise Kellogg. "A lot of us have been involved in the performing arts in some way, and all of us are looking forward to outstanding performances in a high-quality hall right here in our own back yard."

Zierenberg says that knowledge of the arts is part of a well-rounded university education. "No one should graduate without exposure to the wonder, excitement and beauty of science, and it is equally true that a scientist cannot truly be well educated without an appreciation of the arts.

The arts and science are not opposite ends of a line," he said. "They are simply different halves of the same circle."