Instructor(s): Julie Fosdick

Description: This short course will focus on methods and applications of (U-Th)/He thermochronology, a low-temperature chronometer used widely in tectonics, sedimentary provenance, and landscape evolution, and climate studies. Topics will incorporate a mix of theory, application, and hands-on activities. This course is geared toward any geoscientist wanting to learn about these topics, including faculty, professional scientists, graduate students, and undergraduate students.

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Instructor(s): Robert M. Thorson

Description: UConn's introductory geoscience course ERTH 1000E – The Human Epoch: Living in the Anthropocene was launched in 2020, won the college's award in 2023, and is the department's most highly enrolled course, reaching approximately 1,000 students per year on multiple campuses. This full-afternoon short course will share our experience and hear from others in a five-part session: (1) introductions of participants; (2) description of our students; (3) challenges; (4) objectives; and (5) the course schedule of 88 core concepts within 22 daily units across five modules. The session includes breakouts followed by discussion, a walking field trip to visit urban geology, and a shared takeaway from all participants.

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Instructor(s): Lisa Park Boush, Anders Noren

Description: This short course will focus on best practices for obtaining, analyzing and archiving samples and data from cores taken in lakes and other terrestrial environments. Topics to be covered include: site selection, coring methods, analytical tools and techinques such as XRF, Loss on Ignition, microfossils (e.g. pollen, phytoliths, diatoms and ostracods), isotopes, and grain size analyses. A special unit on age modeling will also be offered. In addition, data and sample archiving will be discussed and online databases and data tools such as NEOTOMA, IEDA, and p3k14c will be covered.

This short course also aims to establish a collaborative network within the Northeast GSA Section for labs to coordinate field and laboratory work and provide support for teaching and research using cores in terrestrial systems. This course is designed for both students and faculty.

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Instructor(s): Lijing Wang

Description: This half-day course introduces machine learning methods for predicting groundwater levels and explores how machine learning can be integrated with existing numerical models to improve hydrologic forecasting. Participants will learn how to apply Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) networks for groundwater level prediction, as well as how to develop surrogate models that emulate process-based simulations. The course emphasizes practical applications and is designed to support groundwater research and management under uncertain human and natural disturbances.

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Instructor(s): David Dryden

Description: Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) is a technology that uses radio waves to image into the subsurface to detect buried objects and boundaries. It has found widespread use in geology for more than 40 years for mapping geological structure and stratigraphy as well as groundwater and mineral exploration. GPR systems were once complicated to use but newer systems have simpler designs and user interfaces that allow users from many diverse communities to adopt the technology for their particular problems and challenges.

This course covers basic GPR theory, data interpretation, hands-on field work and case studies. The field portion takes the class outside to practice collecting GPR data, including GPR cross sections integrated with GPS. Afterward, we will return to the classroom, and the instructor will transfer the data from the GPR system to the computer and process in the software. GPS integration and displaying data in Google Earth is also covered. A few case studies are presented to expose students to data from other application areas.

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