STRATEGIES FOR INDIVIDUAL STUDENT RESEARCH AS INTEGRAL COMPONENTS OF A THREE-YEAR COASTAL STUDY: PART OF THE ATLANTA CONSORTIUM FOR RESEARCH IN THE EARTH SCIENCES (ACRES) NSF-REU

In 2002, we began a three-year Georgia coastal investigation as part of the ACRES REU site at Georgia State University. The overall goal of the study is to identify human impact at the coast applying a variety of geologic tools to low and high marsh areas. Our approach utilizes both a field and laboratory experience coupled with focused training in data presentation and reporting.

We start the program by introducing students to the methods they will encounter followed by field work early in the experience. The students work at Skidaway Island Institute of Oceanography (SKIO) using the marsh ecosystem research area and facilities provided by Clark Alexander (SKIO). After a thorough introduction to the equipment and safety, students deploy the vibracore system. A component of the experience includes student – driven solutions to common obstacles associated with field work, e.g scheduling around tides and summer thunderstorms, and occasional equipment failure. We stress proper QA/QC for sampling yet still leave room for student innovation. We emphasize a think on your feet approach as we communicate that field and laboratory experiences are never realized the way that they are planned.

Students are assigned different areas (GIS, micropaleontology, sediment analysis, mineralogy and geochemistry) based on their individual interests. Each student then receives a schedule of expectations and deadlines. Allowances are made for individual refinement of methodologies. This helps to maintain student interest and develops a sense of ownership for their data. Students were asked to have the first set of data completely analyzed and graphed by the fifth week. As a group, we used these data to develop a preliminary data analysis, which the students then used as a foundation for their individual abstracts for the GSA deadline. Students submitted the abstracts to us for initial reviews and after multiple iterations, their peers also evaluated them. In the remaining three weeks, students analyzed additional data and began to assemble their posters for GSA. At the end of the program their results were presented to the other participants as a joint PowerPoint presentation. A paper is also published on the ACRES website. As a capstone, they synthesized their joint results into a paper to be submitted to the Georgia Journal of Science.