REU/RET Site: Collaborative Research: Introducing Critical Zone Observatory Science to Students and Teachers

临界区观测站(CZO)是研究从植被冠层顶部延伸到地下水底部的区域(即临界区)淡水介导的地球表面过程的天然实验室。该奖项支持本科生和教师参与两个临界区天文台的研究，这两个天文台是宾夕法尼亚州中部的Susquehanna-Shale Hills天文台(SSHO)和宾夕法尼亚州东南部和特拉华州北部的克里斯蒂娜河谷(CRB)CZO。宾夕法尼亚州立大学是SSHO的牵头机构，并将与CRB CZO的合作伙伴Stroud Water Research Center(SWRC)合作。该合作项目每年将资助这些网站的12名本科生和4名教师，为主要对地球科学事业感兴趣的本科生和希望增加课堂教学知识和资源的K-12教师提供研究经验。在CRB，参与者将参与研究，调查三个世纪以来人类居住对碳循环和水循环的影响。在SSHO，参与者将参与研究，以定量预测风化岩的形成、演化和结构，作为在温带森林景观中运行的地球化学、水文、生物和地貌过程的函数。暑期体验结束后，与会者将在美国地球物理联盟年会上准备并发表演讲。CZO为通过研究经验培训本科生和教师提供了一个独特的机会，因为天文台代表了广泛的环境景观，并通过天文台框架实现了跨学科的科学。

Critical Zone Observatories (CZOs) are natural laboratories for investigating Earth surface processes mediated by fresh water in the zone extending from the top of the vegetation canopy to the base of groundwater, i.e. the Critical Zone. This award supports the participation of undergraduate students and teachers in research at two Critical Zone Observatories, the Susquehanna-Shale Hills Observatory (SSHO) in central Pennsylvania and the Christina River Basin (CRB) CZO in southeastern Pennsylvania and northern Delaware. Pennsylvania State University is the lead institution of the SSHO and would collaborate with the Stroud Water Research Center (SWRC), a partner in the CRB CZO. The collaborative project will fund a total of 12 undergraduate students and 4 teachers at these sites per year, providing research experiences for undergraduates primarily interested in Earth Science careers and K-12 teachers who want to increase their content knowledge and resources for the classroom. At the CRB, participants will be involved in research investigating aspects of the impact of three centuries of human habitation on the carbon and water cycles. At the SSHO, participants will be involved in research to quantitatively predict the creation, evolution and structure of regolith as a function of the geochemical, hydrologic, biologic, and geomorphological processes operating in the temperate, forested landscape. After the summer experience, participants will prepare and give presentations at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union. CZOs offer a unique opportunity for training undergraduate students and teachers via research experiences because of the broad array of environmental landscapes represented by the observatories and the interdisciplinary science achieved through the observatory framework.