ED51D-0038 0800h
Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR): Faculty Development and Models of Successful Undergraduate Research Programs
The Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) supports and promotes high-quality undergraduate student-faculty collaborative research and scholarship. CUR helps to strengthen the research programs of faculty at predominantly undergraduate institutions and promotes research by undergraduate students in all settings of natural and social sciences. CUR organizes faculty development workshops and publishes articles in its CUR Quarterly that feature research models. Through these activities, best practices are honed and disseminated. No single model of undergraduate research exists and therefore CUR seeks to share many examples of undergraduate projects and include details about their implementation. These models can then be adapted by faculty to meet their particular needs. Undergraduate projects can either be devised by the students themselves, or can be an offshoot of a faculty member's own research program. The key is that the project engages students in original research, analysis, conclusions, and dissemination. This presentation will highlight examples of undergraduate research projects in the geosciences conducted by CUR members and included as feature articles in the CUR Quarterly over the past decade.
ED51D-0039 0800h
Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC) Summer Internship Programs
For the eleventh consecutive year, the Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC) coordinated undergraduate research experiences in summer 2004, allowing 35 students with a broad array of backgrounds and interests to work with the world's preeminent earthquake scientists and specialists. Students participate in interdisciplinary, system-level earthquake science and information technology research, and several group activities throughout the summer. Funding for student stipends and activities is made possible by the NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program. SCEC coordinates two intern programs: The SCEC Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SCEC/SURE) and the SCEC Undergraduate Summer in Earthquake Information Technology (SCEC/USEIT). SCEC/SURE interns work one-on-one with SCEC scientists at their institutions on a variety of earthquake science research projects. The goals of the program are to expand student participation in the earth sciences and related disciplines, encourage students to consider careers in research and education, and to increase diversity of students and researchers in the earth sciences. 13 students participated in this program in 2004. SCEC/USEIT is an NSF REU site that brings undergraduate students from across the country to the University of Southern California each summer. SCEC/USEIT interns interact in a team-oriented research environment and are mentored by some of the nation's most distinguished geoscience and computer science researchers. The goals of the program are to allow undergraduates to use advanced tools of information technology to solve problems in earthquake research; close the gap between computer science and geoscience; and engage non-geoscience majors in the application of earth science to the practical problems of reducing earthquake risk. SCEC/USEIT summer research goals are structured around a grand challenge problem in earthquake information technology. For the past three years the students have developed a new earthquake and fault visualization platform named "LA3D." 22 students participated in this program in 2004. SCEC Interns come together several times during the summer, beginning with a Communication Workshop that develops the student's oral and written communication skills. In mid-summer, a one-day SCEC Intern Colloquium is held, where student researchers present status reports on their research, followed by a three-day field trip of southern California geology and SCEC research locations. Finally, at the end of the summer each student presents a poster at the SCEC Annual Meeting.
http://www.scec.org/internships/
ED51D-0040 0800h
Paleomagnetic Investigation of the East Palisades, Yukon River Valley, Alaska
The East Palisades is a ~60 m high erosional cut-bank bluff that reveals loess, tephra, silt, clay, peat horizons, and ice wedges along the Yukon River, 55 km southwest of Tanana, Alaska. Matheus et al. (2003) concluded through geochemical analysis of tephras, that the bluff spans $\sim$2 Ma of Pliocene/Pleistocene time. Using this stratigraphy, the Bruhnes-Matuyama Normal/Reversal boundary (0.78 Ma) should be present within the outcrop. Paleomagnetic analyses of oriented samples from five selected sections indicate a stable, normal polarity component with a dispersion of declination and inclination consistent with secular variation. Rock magnetic experiments show similar magnetic carriers throughout all samples. These include a broad spectrum of coercivities and blocking temperatures indicative of single and multi-domain magnetic carriers, and high field remagnetization indicative of small amounts of hematite. Our expectations were to see the Normal/Reversed boundary, however, our investigations indicate no magnetic reversals are present through the sampled section. We were able to find a tephra high in the section that correlates with the Old Crow tephra (140,000 years) as described by Matheus et al. (2003), however no older tephras were found. Our results conflict with the previous correlations of tephras, and call into question the lateral continuity of the published stratigraphy. Other causes for this discrepancy could be sediment slumping due to permafrost melting or the effects of activity along the Kaltag Fault, $<$ 1 km northeast of the cliffs, causing uplift, and/or tectonic rotations. Matheus, P., Beget, J., Mason, O., and Gelvin-Reymiller, C., 2003, Quat. Res. 60, 33-43.
ED51D-0041 0800h
A perspective on the influence that biomass burning may have on cirrus clouds: Freezing of solutions catalyzed by high molecular weight organic compounds
Deep convection frequently carries the products of biomass burning into the upper troposphere. A better understanding of this phenomenon would shed light on how the products of the burning are affecting the properties of cirrus clouds. Ice nucleation mechanisms are thought to be the most important property that is being affected by the burning. In biomass burning, aerosol particles are most likely a mixture of organic compounds and salts. We investigated freezing events of sodium chloride and ammonium sulfate solutions, which were catalyzed by heptadecanol or pentacosanol. Both are high molecular weight alcohols that are insoluble in water. The results of the freezing temperatures of the solutions for both organic compounds will be presented as a function of the molarity of the solution. The results will also be discussed in light of Koop et al.'s (2000) assertion that ice nucleation is a function only of the water activity. References: Koop, T., B. Luo, A. Tsias, and T. Peter, Water activity as the determinant for homogeneous ice nucleation in aqueous solutions. Nature, 406, 611-614, 2000.
ED51D-0042 0800h
CDOM Characterization of River-Dominated Environments
Characterization of Colored Dissolved Organic Matter (CDOM) sources in nearshore environments can be challenging on river-dominated margins, such as the West Florida Shelf. These highly dynamic regimes exhibit not only chemical compositional differences between marine and riverine CDOM, but differences can also be resolved between rivers, as well. Through the use of spectroscopic techniques, such as absorption coefficients, spectral slopes, fluorescence intensity and ratios, multiple sources of this organic material can de determined to examine the seasonal changes in the coastal underwater light field. Discussed here will be a summary of the experiences of a first year undergraduate researcher in a marine spectroscopy laboratory from sample collection to data interpretation. Focus will be on the salinity-CDOM-DOC (Dissolved Organic Carbon) relationships from rivers in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico and seasonal cruises to the southern portion West Florida Shelf.
ED51D-0043 0800h
Simulation of a Hyporheic Environment to Determine the Microbial Effects in Estuarine Groundwater Systems
Microorganisms in aquatic environments play a fundamental role in determining the chemical composition of their surroundings. Our experiment focused on the hyporheic zone and the chemistry of groundwater discharged to estuaries. A flow-through column simulation of a hyporheic zone was used to monitor the effects due to the bacteria living in sediment. Artificial groundwater was amended with isotopically-labeled acetate (13C-acetate) to stimulate microbial activity. Groundwater parameters were monitored in the effluent after flowing through the aquifer sediment. Increased microbial activity was inferred from the decreased effluent acetate concentration, the presence of iron(II) in the effluent and increased bacterial phospholipid concentrations in sediment. The results indicate that changes in groundwater chemistry can be linked to microbial activity in the subsurface. Further analysis of microbial activity under differing nutrient limitations will be conducted to more fully understand the changes in groundwater composition.
ED51D-0044 0800h
Estuarine Phytoplankton Monitoring to Meet Undergraduate and Faculty Research Objectives
Phytoplankton monitoring is being used at Savannah State University to provide research experience for all upper-level marine science majors, to provide in-depth senior research projects, to engage lower-level students in marine science activities beyond the classroom, and to collect baseline data for faculty research proposals. The framework is built around a commitment to maintain a tidal creek monitoring site for larger phytoplankton (diatoms and dinoflagellates $>$20 microns) as part of the Southeast Phytoplankton Monitoring Network (SEPMN). Field supplies and on-going training are supported by SEPMN. Marine science majors monitor a series of Wilmington River estuary sites as part of a group research project in an upper-level course offered each spring. The group research assignment includes the writing of a full research report with citations from the primary literature and peer review of drafts. A few students are encouraged to pursue their senior research project in this field and maintain sampling over the remainder of the year. They have freedom to design their own project in the broader context of eutrophication, high frequency temporal variability, seasonality, drought/flood cycles, comparisons between estuaries of differing river discharge or extension of sampling offshore. Senior researchers help to train freshmen/sophomore field assistants to insure consistency in the monitoring from one year to the next. Student data from the Wilmington River estuary cover the greatest portion of an annual cycle. Diatoms far outnumbered dinoflagellates at all estuarine sampling locations under both winter and summer conditions. There is a seasonal transition in this estuary from dominance of {\it Asterionella sp.} in February to {\it Chaetoceros sp.} in June. {\it Chaetoceros sp.} were also dominant in the lower Savannah River estuary in June. Dominance of diatoms in these estuaries rather than dinoflagellates is a sign of a relatively healthy ecosystem. These diatoms, however, did include at least one genus associated with eutrophication when present in high cell densities, {\it Pseudo-nitzschia}. {\it Pseudo-nitzschia sp.} were present in both winter and summer months in the Wilmington River estuary but were only observed to be dominant (41 %) at the most seaward site in late July.
ED51D-0045 0800h
An Undergraduate Research Project in Atmospheric Science: Studies of Recent Unusual Arctic Stratospheric Winters
As an undergraduate student in the Natural Resources Management Program at New Mexico Highlands University, I have been involved in atmospheric research under the supervision of Drs. Gloria Manney and Joseph Sabutis for several years. This research focuses on the dynamics of the stratosphere, which extends from 15 to 50 kilometers above the Earth's surface, and is where the majority of ozone depletion takes place. Polar stratospheric clouds form in the winter polar vortex region where low temperatures and isolated conditions set the stage for ozone depletion. Using global, gridded, meteorological data sets, have been involved in creating two and three-dimensional plots of critical characteristics to assist in monitoring, understanding, and visualizing the polar vortex. Recently we have focused on "major stratospheric sudden warmings" in the 2003-2004 Northern Hemispheric winter. By analyzing winds and temperatures, we showed how unique the warmings in the 2003-2004 winter were, and how extreme the winter was in comparison to previous years. In this poster, my involvement and experiences working on this research project are described, along with the main conclusions of this research. Future work will involve creating a three dimensional visualization of the polar vortex to show the evolution and disruption during stratospheric warmings.
ED51D-0046 0800h
An Examination of the Effects of Two Solar Eclipses on the Topside Ionosphere
The SIESS package aboard the DMSP spacecraft is ideally suited for in situ measurements of plasma density, composition, and temperature. Solar eclipses perturb the ionosphere by disrupting photoproduction and heating in a relatively small region for a short period of time, potenitally disrupting transport of plasma from one region to another. We use DMSP data to examine the effects on relative ion concentration and temperature of two eclipses that occurred under different solar conditions.