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

SAGe井探测器将允许与佛罗里达最关键的环境问题有关的研究，如海平面上升和飓风影响，有害藻类水华和海洋污染。拥有这样一个重要的工具将大大有助于招聘和留住高质量的STEM学生和高质量的教师候选人到大学，并将大大提高学生的研究参与，并为本科生和研究生提供经验，这将增加他们被招聘到研究生和研究项目的机会。让我们的学生参与使用SAGe Well Detector将对STEM中代表性不足的群体产生重大影响（我们60%的学生是女性，25%是西班牙裔）。该大学为初中和高中研究生，地方机构和公众提供外联和合作机会。已建立的，正在进行的外联工作包括干高中女生夏令营，韦斯特海洋场站海洋科学夏令营，惠特克干教师研讨会，和中学科学学院。最后，SAGe井探测器将大大提高我们与当地组织合作的能力。该探测器通常用于确定各种环境中土壤和沉积物的年龄-主要使用基于Pb-210和Cs-137的测年方法。佛罗里达州沿海、海洋和高地环境的历史重建将提供重要的研究成果，包括与过去气候变化（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目前环境紧迫的问题。校园访问这个仪器将大大提高教师的生产力。它还将提高本科生和研究生参与课程与学生的研究组成部分，因此将有助于长期的学生保留。该仪器将被纳入大学课程，如古气候学，海洋化学和海岸和流域地质学，帮助学生参与实践研究。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。

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.