EAGER: Educational Contributions to the Deep Convective Clouds and Chemistry (DC3) Field Campaign

University Of North Dakota Main Campus, Grand Forks ND

Investigators

Abstract

The Deep Convective Clouds and Chemistry (DC3) field campaign to be conducted May-June 2012 is a multi-regional, multi-platform effort to determine the impact of deep midlatitude continental convective clouds and their intrinsic dynamical, microphysical, and electrification processes upon upper tropospheric composition and chemistry. This award will support direct participation of University of North Dakota (UND) undergraduate and graduate students in DC3 via three mechanisms: (1) Development and delivery of a special winter/spring on-campus course addressing the scientific objectives, instrumentation and forecasting needs for the multi-regional field campaign; (2) a follow-on internship-for-credit activity n which students will produce mock forecasts for the campaign and monitor daily forecast and scientific discussions; and (3) direct participation of a select number of students in the field campaign effort for the northern Alabama subregion, to be based at the University of Alabama-Huntsville (UAH). The intellectual merit of this effort derives from support of substantive exchanges between an early-career PI and her students with other NSF-supported investigators on multidisciplinary topics involving the interface of convective-scale meteorological processes and atmospheric chemistry, as well as through contributions to the collection of field datasets required to meet DC3 project goals. Broader impacts will relate primarily to education of graduate and undergraduate students in the dynamic arena of field data collection-driven science, with an eye toward improved retention of underrepresented groups in the sciences such as women and Native Americans. Methodologies for development of both the class and internship model will be documented and assessed in order to facilitate similar experiences, both at UND and other institutions, as well as through dissemination of outcomes via a peer-reviewed publication and associated conference presentation to be made by students involved in this effort. Collaborations between UND faculty and other DC3-involved investigators and institutions will also be strengthened.