USING GROUND PENETRATING RADAR TO ATTRACT MINORITY STUDENTS TO GEOSCIENCES IN NEWARK, NJ

Urban, primarily minority students from the Newark, NJ area, learned how Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) can be used to find objects underground and applied it to a real problem during and after a summer institute. The Rutgers Geoscience Scholars Summer Institute involves 75 students in a 4-week modular program in applied geosciences. The modules are in Energy, Mining, the Environment and Surface Processes/Engineering. As part of the energy module, students learn to image the subsurface using geophysical techniques. One experience, A Geophysical Piñata, uses GPR to find several buried PVC tubes filled with candy. Students learn the basics of GPR in a class, design a survey grid and run the GPR survey. GPR is ideal for this application because it surveys the shallow subsurface and gives immediate results. The students have motivation to carry out an efficient survey to recover the tubes of candy. The experience was appreciated by the students and they were motivated to learn the science.

To extend this knowledge to a practical application, the 12 most motivated students self-selected to participate in a project after the institute ended. The Upper Saddle River, NJ Historical Society wanted to restore a small African American (Slave) cemetery that had fallen into disrepair. The first step was to locate the graves as many were unmarked. The students designed and conducted a GPR survey of the cemetery and located about 25 unmarked graves. The students were motivated by the applied nature of the project. All students were from minority groups and took interest and pride in helping to restore part of their heritage as did their parents who were enthusiastic. The media took interest in the project and covered the activity which further motivated the students. Such applied exercises with positive feedback and family support are invaluable for motivating students who might otherwise not be interested in the geosciences.