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

Florida Gulf Coast University, Fort Myers FL

Investigators

Abstract

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.