ACTIVE ENGAGEMENT OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN ACTIVE RESEARCH OF AN ACTIVE FAULT

The Geoscience Diversity Enhancement Program (G-DEP) at CSU, Long Beach (CSULB) promotes advancement of students from underrepresented groups in the geosciences through intensive mentoring of undergraduate students in field-based research projects. G-DEP provides the infrastructure to link university faculty with prospective geoscience majors, and community college and high school faculty. G-DEP provides students with peer support and workshops to enhance research and presentation skills. In one such research activity, an investigation of deformation along the active Newport-Inglewood fault zone (NIFZ) in southern California was conducted by one faculty member each from CSULB, Orange Coast College (OCC), and Lakewood High School, and one G-DEP student from OCC. We investigated structures in a small, petroleum-saturated sandstone body within the Miocene Monterey Formation. The project involved field structural measurements and mapping. Our scientific results include: 1) geometric linkage of deformation bands with activity along the NIFZ; 2) deciphering the relative history of faulting, cementation, and fluid migration in the paleo-reservoir rock; and 3) possible discovery of a new type of structure we call “cementation bands”. Significant program goals realized by the faculty-student collaboration include: 1) subsequent matriculation of the OCC student to CSULB as a geology major and participation of the student as a G-DEP peer mentor; 2) increased visibility of geoscience in non-CSULB faculty classrooms; 3) unexpected, significant participation by non- G-DEP students in field research sponsored by G-DEP; and 4) subsequent participation by these students in year-two G-DEP. The specific research project reported here created an environment wherein the student received intensive mentoring from three faculty members with significant prior geology expertise. While initially resource-intensive, this approach has realized unexpected benefits of exposure of a broader group of students to G-DEP and careers in geoscience. In addition the collaborative fieldwork significantly added to research findings in the study of fluid flow and faulting. The scientific results of the initial study have been presented at a national conference and serve as the basis for a manuscript in preparation.

Work is co-authored with the G-DEP Consortium.