UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH EXPERIENCES IN AMMONITE HYDRODYNAMICS AND HYDROSTATICS

We report student experiences from a summer Research Experience for Undergraduates at the University of Utah. The Ammonite Motility Modeling Laboratory (AMMLab) hosted the REU in summers 2023 and 2024. Students used 3D models to explore form and function in fossil ammonites. We tested ideas for the course as a 9-week experience including field work in Summer 2023, then as a 6-week course in Summer 2024 which welcomed 5 students from Salt Lake Community College. Skills workshops included training in paleontology and geology, and in software to make 3D fossil replicas, synthetic versions of idealized geometry, and hybrid models. Students designed experimental ammonite model specimens in for a finale event at a local swimming pool. The goal was to create specimens that could attain functional neutral buoyancy and elicit contrasts in hydrodynamic performance. Some students gravitated toward solving these puzzle algorithmically, others by trial and error. Each student showcased what they observed, and how they interpreted the result with respect to their original expectations. Together, participants weighed in with consensus or remaining fundamental questions for each experimental design. Repeated organization of the course has allowed us to create methodological workflows and hypothesis cascade frameworks that will support greater cohesion between year-to-year ongoing research and the summer student experience. The primary goal of our REU is not to create individual publications, but to foster exploration and experiential learning on site within cohorts. This work is funded by the National Science Foundation (CAREER Award 1945597), and hosted within the Protospace in the Marriott Library, and Department of Geology & Geophysics in the College of Science and the College of Mines & Earth Sciences.