University of Wyoming/Jackson State University Summer Field Course Wrap-Up

Two weeks ago, students from the University of Wyoming traveled to Jackson State University in Jackson, Mississippi to participate in the UW/JSU Summer Field Course, where they studied ecology, hydrology and geophysics. Throughout the course, students got to work with instructors from the University of Wyoming and Jackson State University, both in the lab and in the field.

Students collect field data

“My favorite part of the course was having a hands-on experience,” says Dominique Williams, a senior at JSU, and a course participant. “It’s quite different, getting your hands on something instead of just reading about it in books.”

Students in the course learned how to collect data using geophysics tools, including seismic and resistivity equipment, to create an image of what’s underground. This hands-on experience makes this course unique and challenging, and gives students an in-depth look at how research is done.

“We made several trips to Eagle Lake, in Vicksburg Mississippi, to run a series of tests with different equipment, which was awesome!” says Dominique. “When we came in from the field we went straight into the labs and ran data analysis on the data that we had collected throughout the day.”

Dominique is studying Civil Engineering and plans to continue her education after she completes her undergraduate degree.

“After graduation I plan on going to graduate school to get my masters,” she says. “My long-term goal would be to find a great civil engineering company and to grow in my field of study.”

 Last year, participants from JSU traveled to Laramie, WY for the Summer Field Course. The vast difference in climate and landscape makes this course a unique learning experience for all participants.

“This year’s course at JSU continued an important collaboration in ecology, hydrology and geophysics between UW and JSU,” says Dr. Steve Holbrook, a professor in the Department of Geology and Geophysics at the University of Wyoming. Dr. Holbrook traveled to JSU as an instructor for the course.

“Much of our work focused on determining the structure and ecological function around an important levee in the lower Mississippi River valley, called Buck Chute. For that work, we established a new collaboration with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Vicksburg, MS. Using geophysics, we were able to image a sandy aquifer that runs beneath the levee – which sources dangerous ‘sand boils’ that can undermine the levee during flood stages of the river.”

Dr. Steve Holbrook prepares students

Overall, students and professors enjoyed this year’s field course.  

“I would definitely recommend this course to any and everyone!” says Dominique. “This course offers so much that I wish it was longer!”

"All aspects of the course were successful," Dr. Holbrook says. "I think the students learned a lot and, once again, friendships were forged between UW and JSU students."

By Robin Rasmussen
Photos by Liz Nysson

PhD student Jorden Hayes and geophysical imaging

As a child, Jorden Hayes, a doctoral student in the Department of Geology and Geophysics, enjoyed science and geology, but she did not realize the depth of her passion until she was an undergraduate studying Television Communications with the goal of becoming a meteorologist. Soon, she realized how much she enjoyed math and geology, and eventually switched her major to geophysics.

Today, Jorden’s passion has led her to WyCEHG at the University of Wyoming to pursue her PhD under the advisement of Dr. SteveHolbrook. Her research revolves around creating geophysical images of subsurface environments. Creating these images will help researchers estimate how much water is stored in the subsurface and help them better understand the processes happening underground.

Jorden Hayes

“These images help scientists interpret geological processes such as weathering, water storage, and flow,” says Jorden. “Understanding these processes is critical to improving water management and predicting how climate change will impact our future water resources.”

The first step to create a seismic image involves hitting a metal plate with a sledgehammer. The energy from this action is then sent into the earth and picked up by a line of geophones, which are instruments used to measure ground motion.

“That gives you seismic traces,” says Jorden. “The next step is to take it to the lab and do an initial analysis of the data. Finally, you take and model that data, which, in my case, involves using the Yellowstone Supercomputer.”

After data in the field is collected, the final data analysis and modeling can take up to weeks or months.

Jorden’s research is an integral part of WyCEHG and its mission.

“One of the goals of WyCEHG is to advance innovations in near-surface geophysical methodology,” she says. Jorden’s work will allow WyCEHG to better reach their goal of understanding subsurface environments.

Jorden has learned a lot about her chosen field through her experience with WyCEHG, but that isn’t all she’s gained.

“How to integrate science across disciplines would probably be the biggest thing I’ve gained,” she says. “The fact that I’ve been sitting down with hydrologists, ecologists, and people that study isotopes, I’ve learned a lot about how to interact, how to ask questions, and how to learn.”

Jorden enjoys her research, and views science in a way many non-scientists don’t.

 “Science is way more creative than some realize,” she says. “From designing experiments and surveys to making interpretations, creativity abounds. Also, scientific discovery is incredibility motivating and rewarding.”

For other students in STEM fields, Jorden offers helpful advice.

“Don’t be afraid to ask questions, never stop learning and get your hands dirty,” she says. “Start there and find people and mentors who are going to encourage you along the way.”

By Robin Rasmussen

Photo courtesy of Jorden Hayes

WyCEHG uses Helicopter to Collect Important Data

Studying hydrology and geophysics in the state of Wyoming can be challenging due to the complex terrain. In spite of this, the WyCEHG team is getting creative and thinking of new ways to study what lies below the surface.

Last week, the SkyTEM team, from Aarhus University in Denmark, hit the sky in a helicopter to begin data collection for WyCEHG.

Setting-up

“The SkyTEM system measures two kinds of information - the strength of the Earth’s magnetic field, and the electrical conductivity of the subsurface,” says Dr. Steve Holbrook.

This data will help WyCEHG researchers gain crucial knowledge about what the terrain looks like underground, including magnetization, fault structure, geological layering and more.

“All of this data will enable us to make much more informed decisions about which areas bear further, labor-intensive study using our ground-based instrumentation,” says Holbrook. 

 

Off to collect lots of useful data!

By Robin E. Rasmussen

Photos by Kali S. McCrackin

A world of opportunities: Geology, collaboration and Wyoming

This story is the second of several stories featuring EPSCoR personnel and their roles in merging science, education, research and outreach. Dr. Steve Holbrook is a principal-investigator on one of two EPSCoR grants. This story focuses on that grant and Dr. Holbrook's work.



Dr. Steven Holbrook with some of his insturments for geophysics.

 

Dr. Steve Holbrook likes to change the focus of his work every decade or so, and this year, he is moving his work from cruises on the ocean to the wilderness of Wyoming. What do the ocean and Wyoming wilderness have in common? A need for geophysics.

“I like to reinvent myself every ten years or so,” says Dr. Holbrook, a co-principal investigator on the University of Wyoming’s $20 million EPSCoR grant, WyCEHG (Wyoming Center for Environmental Hydrology and Geophysics). “It feels really nice to be working in Wyoming. I’ve been here fifteen years and I’ve never worked in the state.”
Dr. Holbrook is a geophysicist at UW who uses seismic waves to see inside the earth. “My specialty is making images of the physical properties inside the earth,” Dr. Holbrook says. For the past twenty years, Dr. Holbrook has focused on marine seismology. In the ocean, sound waves are sent out and the way they bounce off the surface is recorded then turned into an image. These images look a lot like a road cut with layers stacked on top of each other.
“This EPSCoR project is a departure for me because mostly I’ve done marine seismology, but I am excited about this project,” Dr. Holbrook says. “I think that there is a lot of good science to be done that needs geophysics. The whole purpose of our project is to use geophysical imaging, not just seismometers, but electrical imaging, and magnetic and radar techniques to make images of the shallow subsurface that will help link surface hydrology of rivers to ground water hydrology.”
The $20million EPSCoR grant the University of Wyoming received in July was exactly the opportunity Dr. Holbrook was looking for to reinvent his research interests. The grant is focused on understanding near-surface and subsurface geology in Wyoming in order to determine the path water takes from the moment it lands on the ground until it ends up in streams, reservoirs and lakes.
“I like taking undergraduate students out on cruises but I only have a cruise every three years, it’s really expensive and I could only take three or four students out,” Dr. Holbrook says. “I wasn’t reaching a lot of students that way. This way, with near surface geology and the EPSCoR grant, it’s so easy. Now we have equipment, we have all these study areas right next door and Wyoming has important scientific issues concerning water that matter to people.”
Understanding how and where water ends up has important ramifications for water use in Wyoming and the surrounding states for which Wyoming is the headwater region. The water system is complex, however, and creating a clear picture of the system requires the collaboration of multiple scientific fields.
"The project is fun because it’s interdisciplinary,” Dr. Holbrook says. “I’m working with people that I had never met before we started this project and they’re all from different disciplines. Now we’re working together closely and I have to stretch myself. I have to think about ecology, plant physiology, evapotranspiration and things that I have very little idea about, but I’m learning and that’s fun!”
The collaborative aspect of the project is essential, because the research conducted by Dr. Holbrook and the scientists on the grant will complete a more complete picture of each research site.
“One of the most fascinating parts of the project so far is trying to decide on our focus sites,” Dr. Holbrook says. “We’re taking field trips as a team to determine each site. We have people from three different colleges and six different departments out in the field together. When we get to a site, we all get out and take turns describing what we see. Everybody sees something different.”
Dr. Holbrook, for instance, notices the geology, the outcrops of rock and what that might mean for the subsurface. Once the scientists decide on the site, Dr. Holbrook will use geophysical techniques to study the near-surface, or upper 100-200 meters beneath the ground.
“That’s deeper than you could dig a ditch, which is why you need geophysics,” Dr. Holbrook says. “The only way to figure out what is going on at those depths is to drill a hole, which is expensive and only tells you about what’s happening right at that one diameter, or you can use geophysics which gives you a larger picture of the area. Ideally, you do both.”
The collaborative nature of the project and the focus on geophysics will provide great opportunities for students at UW, especially because all of the equipment for the project is portable. The mobility of the equipment ensures that it can be used across the state at various research sites and that it is accessible to many people.
“It’s good for the students,” Dr. Holbrook says. “The equipment for the project will be heavily used for both education and research. We’re going to use this equipment to get undergraduate students exposed to geophysics earlier and we’re going to develop a new summer field course that brings together hydrology, geophysics and ecology.”
Not only will the WyCEHG equipment be used by students in the classroom, it will also be used by students working on the grant. Over the five year duration of the grant, between twenty and thirty graduate students will be supported along with twelve post-doctoral students and seventy to eighty undergraduates. The projects that students will work on are still being decided. Student involvement on the project is key to the grant. It will expose students to the collaborative, interdisciplinary aspect of science, and to the varied fields that are concerned with water and the environment.
“That’s a connection we’d really like to make,” Dr. Holbrook says.
Time flies when you’re having fun, and it has flown. The proposal for WyCEHG was sent to the National Science Foundation (NSF) less than a year ago. Seven months later, UW had $20 million to work with. At times for Dr. Holbrook, it’s hard to believe that all of this is real.
"I’m really still in the pinching-myself phase. I can’t believe it’s only been fifteen months since I started on the proposal and here we have a project really getting started,” Dr. Holbrook says. “It really feels like something that’s going to matter. We’re going to set something up that’s going to last.”

By Kali S. McCrackin
Photo courtesy of the University of Wyoming