Acquisition of NMR and SIP instrumentation to support research and training of students from under-represented groups in near surface geophysics

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This grant supports the purchase of two state-of-the-art scientific instruments: a nuclear magnetic resonance borehole logging tool and a spectral induced polarization borehole logging tool. These instruments will be used to enhance and expand ongoing research in the earth sciences and near surface geophysics at Rutgers University, Newark. The faculty are developing methods to improve the evaluation of groundwater, to monitor processes associated with contaminant remediation, and to evaluate carbon cycling in peatlands. The equipment will also be used to recruit, educate and train undergraduate and graduate students, specifically focusing on under-represented minorities, in near surface geophysics.This grant supports the acquisition of two state-of-the-art scientific instruments to enhance near surface geophysics borehole logging investigations: a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) borehole logging tool (Vista Clara Dart), and a spectral induced polarization (SIP) borehole logging tool (Mount Sopris QL40-SIP). These borehole tools will be used by leading experts in both NMR and SIP at Rutgers University, Newark to address scientific questions in multiple subfields of the earth sciences, including: hydrogeophysics, biogeophysics and carbon cycling in peatlands. Within each of these subfields, the borehole instrumentation will allow the near-surface geophysics researchers at Rutgers University, Newark to develop critical theoretical relationships in the laboratory, and test and apply them to answer pertinent scientific questions in the field. In the area of hydrogeophysics the instrumentation will be used to support ongoing projects to improve our ability to estimate parameters used to quantify the flow of water, both in aquifers and in the vadose zone. In biogeophysical research, these instruments will allow us to upscale laboratory measurements, which have shown that NMR and SIP parameters are sensitive to biogeochemical alterations associated with contaminant degradation processes, to the field scale. In the area of carbon cycling in the peatlands, measurements from the instrumentation will provide much needed information to assess how variations in peat fabric structure observed across peatlands regulate gas release to the atmosphere. The equipment will be available for use by students in multiple NSF supported programs that are run by faculty at Rutgers University, Newark and are aimed at increasing the participation of under-represented minority students in STEM fields, including the Garden State-Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation, the Rutgers University REU program, and the GEOPATHS near surface geophysics field experience program. Graduate students will also have full access to the requested instrumentation, which will allow them to obtain unique skill-set and expand their research interests, which will make them more competitive on the job market.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.