INCLUDING STAKEHOLDERS IN HYDRO-GEOPHYSICS EDUCATION: ASU INDUSTRY APPRECIATION DAYS 2016

Angelo State University's (ASU) Department of Physics and Geosciences, San Angelo, Texas, teamed up with Advanced Geosciences, Inc. (AGI), Austin, Texas, for a three day hydro-geophysics technical training event from November 29 to December 1, 2016. The event was hosted by ASU's Geosciences program and sponsored by AGI. The objective of the meeting was to electrically image a known brine water plume using the Electrical Resistivity Imaging (ERI) method. An introduction to the ERI method was given first at the ASU campus followed by a field demonstration at an established ASU research location on a private ranch approximately 14 kilometers south of ASU. At this research location a historic subsurface brine water storage facility had leaked into a shallow perched aquifer resulting in a large brine water plume, and the overall goal was to use the ERI method to delineate the plume. Approximately 90 ASU students took part and conducted a 3D survey of the brine spill using several parallel 2D lines. The mixed Dipole-Dipole and StrongGradient arrays were used to collect a thorough scan of the subsurface. The computed model correlated well with the known location of the subsurface brine spill. The workshop was concluded with a geology field trip for students and industry professionals of regional geology, ERI methods and ongoing hydrogeology research projects at the location, including in-situ bioremediation studies of the brine affected soils. The training event was a terrific success and allowed ASU students to obtain a vast amount of knowledge with regards to applied field hydrogeology and geophysical techniques.