Lauren Simkins / Environmental Science
Sediments as Earth’s History Book
Summary
Our planet holds valuable secrets about the past that can help inform present and future changes occurring on Earth’s surface. Yet decoding geological archives requires the integration of broad scales of time and space, as well as an understanding of the many processes that dictate physical environmental changes from place to place and how such are preserved by sediments. Dr. Simkins plans to host a series of two on-grounds, lunch-time workshops to dig into how sediments record major Earth changes in the past that are critical to placing modern changes and processes, like sea-level rise and diminishing glaciers, into a broader, longer-term context.
Students will have the opportunity to run laboratory analyses on sediments Dr. Simkins has collected in Antarctica and to have short (15-minute) Q&A sessions with sedimentologists at other universities and institutions to get a variety of perspectives. Additionally, the students will work together during the workshops to develop deliverables such as infographics, creating or contributing to Wikipedia pages, and educator lesson plans that will be accessible to a wider community. The workshops will be open to any students majoring or minoring in Environmental Sciences, and will be advertised in Dr. Simkins’ two classes (Polar Environments and Geoscience in the Field) in the Spring 2022 semester and to all Environmental Sciences undergraduate student list serve. The workshops will be limited to 15 students per workshop and sign- ups for individual workshops will be first come-first-serve.
The two workshops will occur in the Spring 2022 semester in April.
Budget
$18 per lunch per person per workshop, 15 students + Dr. Simkins, 2 workshops = $576
$100 for microscopy supplies and analyses in Dr. Simkins’ laboratory
$50 per external sedimentologist per workshop = $100
Total budget = $776