MRI: Acquisition of a SAGe Well Detector to Support Geoscience Education and Student and Faculty Research at Florida Gulf Coast University

SAGE井探测器将允许进行与佛罗里达州最关键的环境问题相关的研究，如海平面上升和飓风影响、有害藻华和海洋污染。拥有这样一种必要的工具将极大地帮助该大学招聘和留住具有STEM思想的高质量学生和高质量的教师候选人，并将极大地提高学生的研究参与度，并为本科生和研究生提供经验，从而增加他们被研究生和研究项目录取的机会。让我们的学生使用SAGE井检仪将对STEM中代表性不足的群体产生重大影响(我们的学生中60%是女性，25%是西班牙裔)。该大学为初中和高中的研究型学生、当地机构和普通公众提供外展和合作机会。已建立的、正在进行的外联活动包括STEM高中女生夏令营、韦斯特海洋野战站海洋科学夏令营、惠特克STEM教师讲习班和中学科学学院。最后，SAGE井检仪将极大地提高我们与当地组织合作的能力。该探测器通常用于确定不同环境中土壤和沉积物的年龄--主要使用基于铅-210和铯-137的测年方法。对佛罗里达州沿海、海洋和高地环境的历史性重建将提供重要的研究成果，包括与过去的气候变化(飓风和海平面上升动态)、富营养化、缺氧和海洋污染有关的研究成果--所有这些领域都是佛罗里达州当前环境紧迫的领域。校园使用该仪器将极大地提高教师的工作效率。它还将加强本科生和研究生对包含学生研究部分的课程的参与，因此将有助于长期留住学生。该仪器将被整合到大学课程中，如古气候学、海洋化学和海岸与流域地质学，帮助学生参与实践研究。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The SAGe Well Detector will allow for research related to Florida's most critical environmental issues such as sea level rise and hurricane impacts, harmful algal blooms, and marine pollution. Having such an essential instrument will greatly assist in the recruitment and retention of high quality STEM-minded students and high quality faculty candidates to the university and will greatly enhance student research participation and provide undergraduate and graduate students with experiences that will increase their chances of recruitment into graduate and research programs. Engaging our students in the use of the SAGe Well Detector will have a significant impact on underrepresented groups in STEM (60% of our students are female and 25% are Hispanic). The university provides outreach and collaborative opportunities to middle and high school research students, local agencies and the general public. Established, ongoing outreach efforts include the STEM High School Girls Summer Camp, the Vester Marine Field Station Marine Science Summer Camp, the Whitaker STEM Teacher Workshop, and the Middle School Science Academy. Finally, the SAGe Well Detector will greatly increase our capability to collaborate with local organizations. The detector is commonly used to determine the age of soils and sediments in various environments - mainly using Pb-210 and Cs-137-based dating approaches. Historic reconstructions of Floridian coastal, marine and upland environments will provide important research results including those related to past climate change (hurricane and sea-level rise dynamics), eutrophication, hypoxia and marine pollution - all areas of current environmental urgency to the state of Florida. Campus access to this instrument will greatly increase faculty productivity. It will also enhance undergraduate and graduate student participation in courses with student research components, and will therefore aid in long-term student retention. The instrument will be integrated into university curriculum such as Paleoclimatology, Marine Chemistry and Coastal and Watershed Geology helping to engage students in hand-on research.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.