Incorporating Stable Isotope Geochemistry in Undergraduate Education and Research

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Undergraduate students are rarely given opportunities to learn about stable isotope geochemistry and gain hands-on experience in geochemistry laboratories. This fact is unfortunate because stable isotope geochemistry is more interdisciplinary than most geoscience subdisciplines. Stable isotopes are used, for example, to study global climate change, groundwater/surface water hydrology, and high-temperature fluid rock interaction. Following the construction of two inexpensive stable isotope extraction lines, undergraduate students are experientially learning about stable isotope geochemistry and procedures commonly used in geochemistry laboratories. The new equipment is used by students enrolled in two upper-division courses Groundwater Hydrology and Environmental Geochemistry and is available for use in the research-oriented course entitled Senior Inquiry Research Project. Three-week modules are designed so that students (1) collect water and rocks samples; (2) analyze their samples for the stable isotopes of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen; (3) interpret their results; and (4) write a research report. The class projects are integrated with projects that local environmental firms are investigating once faculty have gained confidence with the functionality of this module. The project can be assessed several times during the tenure of the 2-year project. Students and faculty associated with the module can be asked to evaluate it. Their comments and answers to questions listed in the Summative Evaluation section of the User-Friendly Handbook for Project Evaluation can be reported at the termination of the 2-year project. The implementation, application, and results of the module can be disseminated four ways. This process includes distributing the information on the World Wide Web, publishing in a recognized journal on geoscience education, and presenting at a national GSA meeting. In addition, a video that illustrates the construction of the line and analytical procedures used in the l aboratory can be made available to interested academicians. *