GEOTeams – Summer Research in the Geosciences Department of Geology, Environment, and Sustainability
Hofstra University A shortage of geoscientists and the growing demand for people to work in careers in Earth resources, environmental health, and sustainability is the motivation behind a three-year, $347,530 National Science Foundation (NSF) grant awarded to Hofstra University’s Department of Geology, Environment, and Sustainability to create opportunities for students to learn what it is like to do research in the geosciences. What’s a GEOTeam? What kinds of research do GEOTeams do? How can I get involved in GEOTeams? A GEOTeam is a group of student researchers composed of a high school student, an undergraduate, and a graduate education student working with a Hofstra mentor on a summer research project.
Each summer four individual GEOTeams convene to tackle a research project together. Students work together for six weeks in July and August to master the skills needed for each particular project and to do field and lab work to gather data for analysis.
Any Hofstra undergraduate interested in exploring what its like to do geoscience research can apply to join GEOTeams. We are now accepting applications for Summer 2022 – contact Dr. E. Christa Farmer (geoecf@hofstra.edu) for an application.
GEOTeams Projects in 2021
Hofstra students Nick Ptak and Faith Renner with Dr. Antonios Marsellos inside a volcanic crater on the Greek Island of Nisyros. Below, Faith downloads data from a monitoring station and prepares to install a thermal probe in a volcanic fumerole, while Nick builds additional thermal probes to be deployed. Hofstra education students Andy Byrne and Brandon Buchbinder look on as Sandra prepares a rock thin section for microscopic analysis.
Dr. Bennington’s team isolated zircon mineral grains from a glacial erratic to use to obtain a radiometric age for the rock. To verify the composition of the grains they used electron dispersive spectroscopy (EDS).
Dr Marsellos’ team traveled to Greece to upgrade and repair monitoring stations on active volcanoes and to collect data on how volcanic activity is impacted by meteorological conditions.
Freeport H.S. student Sandra Guevara Sanchez uses a non-toxic heavy liquid to separate zircon grains from other minerals.
Dr. Bernhardt’s team created a simulation to test how people respond to warnings about driving in flash floods. They gathered data from the responses of a random sample of people to the simulation to determine which warning messages were most impactful.
Citations Anthony Johnson, Sela Lewis, and Erin Walsh prepare sediment samples for microscope analysis in Hofstra’s paleoclimatology lab.
Individual minerals grains were imaged using Hofstra’s scanning electron microscope (SEM). To verify that grains were made of the mineral zircon, the team used EDS to detect the presence of the element zirconium.
Dr. Farmer’s team analyzed sediments and microfossils from deep sea sediment cores to better understand how climate in the North Atlantic changed during the last ice age. Funding for these projects was provided by NSF Award #1911514