Senior environmental geology major Samantha Doss-Watson, left, and Dr. Amy Brock-Hon install edging around The Rockery—a rock garden located outside of Grote Hall—on Tuesday, June 4. Photo by Angela Foster.
Rocks are more than just rocks. They are the record of Earth’s history, and “there’s no way we can understand the future without understanding the past. Rocks hold that information.”
So said Dr. Amy Brock-Hon—the Robert Lake Wilson Professor of Geology at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga—in introducing The Rockery, a rock garden now found on the UTC campus.
At the end of the spring term, the UTC Geology Club created The Rockery, located alongside Grote Hall on the path from campus to Mocs Alumni Drive—just a stone’s throw away from the University Center.
The garden features four distinct groups of rocks: igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary as well as a unique collection showcasing local Chattanooga rocks.
“There are rocks on display for people to look at and get to see all the unique properties of different kinds of rocks,” Brock-Hon explained. “We just wanted to share them with the UTC community and whoever wants to walk by and learn.”
The Rockery is designed not just for aesthetic appeal but for educational purposes.
“The goal is that people learn from it,” she continued. “Long-term plans are for the Geology Club to put together information about each rock so we learn about the environment in which it formed.”
Brock-Hon said that the creation of The Rockery has been a long-term vision for the geology department. Predecessors had envisioned such a project—but not the location.
“Thankfully, our department head (Dr. Gretchen Potts) contacted facilities and said, ‘Hey, can we do this here?’” Brock-Hon said. “So now we have a really great space.”
The transformation of the idea into reality was swift. Rocks that had been stored for over a decade in the geology department were quickly brought out and organized into the garden.
“This is prominent and is a great place for learning on the way to class,” Brock-Hon said.
Brock-Hon credited senior environmental geology major Samantha Doss-Watson and the UTC Geology Club for spearheading the project.
“I think this has been really cool,” said Doss-Watson, who grew up in Dayton, Tennessee, and attended Rhea County High School. “Everyone loves rocks, honestly, at least to some degree. They’re interesting.
“When we were small kids, we’d see a cool rock and put it in our pocket. So it’s really great to be able to show people these rocks so they can learn from them.”
Doss-Watson started at UTC in 2021 and possesses two associate degrees from Chattanooga State Community College (general studies in 2009; mass communications in 2016). A communications career wasn’t what she thought it would be, so she came to UTC “ready to get my bachelor’s degree.”
Before long, she said, “I took a physical geology class and knew, ‘This is it.’”
Interestingly enough, her communications background has come into play at UTC, where she serves as the Geology Club’s public relations officer.
“I manage our Instagram page and I try to show up for all of our events to take photos and let people know what we’re doing,” she said.
Doss-Watson’s attention will now turn to promoting The Rockery. Her enthusiasm for the project reflects a broader community interest in her new career.
“I definitely am enjoying learning and building my skillset in geology,” she said, “so I hope that I’ll be working in that capacity in some way.”
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