Geophysical Equipment for Hydrogeology, Environmental Geology and Geophysics Field Courses

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The Geosciences Department recognizes the importance of hands-on, field-oriented experiences for undergraduates, especially in the high employment area of environmental consulting. To this end, the university is increasing its capabilities in shallow field geophysics for undergraduate students in geophysics, hydrogeology, and environmental geology courses. A field laboratory is being developed on campus complete with one pumping well, four observations wells, and numerous buried objects for geophysical targets. Existing geophysical equipment allows for investigations of seismic refraction, gravity, and magnetism, but to ensure coverage and experience in the tools most commonly used in the environmental industry, the university is providing additional equipment for electromagnetic, very-low-frequency, ground-penetrating radar and seismic reflection techniques. This equipment is used extensively in five undergraduate courses (two in geophysics, two in hydrogeology, and one in environmental geology) and as the backbone for a new course at the beginning level in Environmental Field Methods. This new course provides field experience at an early level for geology students as well as students from other environmentally oriented programs on campus. The geophysical data are combined with hydrogeologic and environmental data, using the common field site as a laboratory. The extensive geophysical and hydrogeologic data collected from the site are archived on CD-ROM using the method of dynamic digital maps and are made available to the geologic community. In addition, the site, a unique teaching tool for field geophysics and hydrogeology, and the entire range of field equipment, are made available to interested professors and students in the region. *