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Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) and Teacher (RET):
Global Change and Its Impacts
Funded by the the National Science Foundation
PARTICIPATING DEPARTMENTS & FACULTY
Jackson School of Geological Sciences
Jay Banner
Studies in Banner's laboratory link modern hydrologic, geologic and soil conditions determined through tracing and monitoring techniques to Pleistocene and Holocene mineral deposits in caves (speleothems) and springs (travertines). These deposits can be precisely dated and incorporate isotopic tracers that can preserve decadal to millennial-scale records of water quality and quantity. REU/RET researchers will investigate the physical and chemical parameters of cave drip waters and atmospheres and how well the speleothem proxies reflect paleoclimate. They will also learn methods for sampling of waters, tree rings, soils and aquifer rocks, processing of samples using low-contamination protocols, and high-precision measurements using mass spectrometry. Speleothems will be applied to a regional analysis of effective precipitation across the Pleistocene-Holocene transition - a transition marked by significant climate change in a region of particular sensitivity to changing effective precipitation. Research would be linked to Banner’s NSF P2C2 grant on this topic.
Tim Shanahan uses organic geochemical and isotopic techniques (“biomarkers”) to reconstruct past climate and vegetation from lacustrine and paleowetland deposits. Shanahan’s REU/RET researchers could be involved in ongoing work on sites ranging from the high Arctic to tropical Africa and South America, on timescales ranging from the present to the early Pleistocene. New studies on Holocene and late glacial aged lake deposits and paleowetlands (with J. Pigati, US Geological Survey) provide local field opportunities for REU researchers and represent a relatively untapped archive of past climate conditions in the southwestern United States that integrates changes in climate, vegetation, fire disturbance and hydrology. Hands on laboratory experience will involve the extraction and purification of organic compounds for analysis by state-of-the-art GC and HPLC mass spectrometric techniques. In addition, students will also analyze samples for their molecular fossil composition to reconstruct past vegetation, fire and hydrologic conditions (Hughen, et al. 2004).
Rosemarie Came applies a new oxygen-carbon isotope paleothermometer, the “clumped isotope” technique (Ghosh et al., 2006), which can provide paleotemperature estimates for the world’s oceans from carbonate fossils. As a member of Dr. Came’s laboratory group, REU/RET researchers would work in one of the first clumped isotope facilities in the world. Using UT’s specially-configured mass spectrometer, the REU/RET researcher could help refine the record of ocean temperature during the Paleozoic era (e.g. Came et al., 2007) or embark upon studies such as: 1) obtaining clumped-isotope temperature estimates for the Ordovician and Cambrian periods using fossil brachiopods; 2) reconstructing temperature during the early Eocene climatic optimum using bivalve shells, or 3) investigating recent climate change using modern carbonate materials such as corals, speleothems, or foraminifera.
Bayani Cardenas and his students use physical flow modeling to investigate exchanges of water and heat between surface water, soils and aquifers. Matter and energy exchange between surface water and aquifer is crucial information for detecting, observing, and predicting biogeochemical and ecological processes in stream-bottom sediments (Cardenas & Wilson, 2007) as well as in soils. A potential project for REU/RET researchers is an investigation of how dam operations affect the quality and quantity of groundwater downstream and whether they induce swings in water quality in the river and in adjacent shallow aquifers. An REU/RET researcher working with Cardenas’ group will install groundwater wells in the stream and along the banks and equip them to measure temperature, conductivity, pressure and dissolved oxygen. Students may also analyze permeability and quantify surface water-groundwater exchange and study moisture regime, energy balance and soil infiltration rates under a forecasted precipitation regime in a project in collaboration with faculty participant C. Hawkes (see below).
John Sharp, Jr.
Sharp's
research investigates groundwater flow in fractured rocks, thermohaline free convection, regional flow in carbonate rocks, hydrology of arid and semi-arid zones, subsidence and coastal land loss, effects of urbanization, and decision support methods (Pierce et al., 2007). REU/RET researchers have the opportunity to characterize and numerically simulate the effects of urbanization on groundwater flow. These studies in changes in the urban hydrologic environment might include the effect of utility trenches on groundwater flow or other studies of the impact of urban infrastructure on groundwater systems, which are essential but often-missing data in water resource policy (Garcia-Fresca & Sharp, 2006).
Section of Integrative Biology
Christine Hawkes
Hawkes' lab has several research projects designed to project impacts from changes in rainfall in central Texas grasslands by studying aboveground and belowground ecosystem responses to simulated drought conditions predicted for fifty years in the future. Hawkes is studying these impacts on soil carbon cycling and microbiology using two approaches: 1) by experimental manipulation of rainfall, grassland communities, and soils at the UT Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, and 2) by studying grassland plants and soils along a steep rainfall gradient on the Edwards Plateau as a proxy for future climate. Students will be able to plug into this project to study plants, insects, soils, community ecology, or biogeochemistry. One REU student has already used two years of gradient data to design and carry out a project examining soil fungal acclimation to climate. Additionally, Dr. Hawkes’ laboratory has ongoing projects in Texas, Florida, and California on invasive species impacts on communities and ecosystems, as well as their long-term legacy effects on the landscape. There are additional opportunities for projects on soil microbial responses to juniper invasion and restoration of invaded areas.
Camille Parmesan
Parmesan's research group addresses the impacts of environmental change on wild species, with an emphasis on implications for biodiversity conservation. She also has extensive experience working at the interface between science and policy as a lead and contributing author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Third Assessment Report. Students could work on part of any of the following projects: 1) study of treeline dynamics in response to climate change in Nepal, 2) field or laboratory studies on the control of an invasive fish in the Cuatro Cienegas spring system in Mexico, and its impacts on a native congener (Sharp, Banner, and Cardenas have supervised students, including a REU student, conducting research at Cuatro Cienegas), 3) studies of the impacts of land use (nitrogen loading) on biodiversity of natural spring systems in the Texas Hill Country, with a special focus on endemic salamander species.
U.S. Geological Survey
Barbara Mahler
Impacts of global change in urban settings are being examined by Barbara Mahler using introduced and natural tracers such as insecticides and herbicides to elucidate changing karst aquifer structure and flow (Mahler & Massei, 2007). Mahler is also investigating the transport and fate of other wastewater-associated contaminants and their effect on water quality in a karst aquifer experiencing rapid urbanization. REU/RET researchers will determine how concentrations of these wastewater-associated contaminants change as they move through the aquifer and how they vary in response to changes in water level and flow conditions.
School of Architecture
Sarah Dooling
Dooling's lab
investigates urban environments using ecological and social principles to understand how they change temporally and spatially, and to develop effective management recommendations for sustainable urban systems. Globally, urban systems are experiencing unprecedented pressures with over 50% of the world’s population residing in cities (Vitousek, 1997). Texas is projected to double its population by 2050, with the greater Austin area expected to reach 8 million people by 2050. This presents research opportunities for students to study biophysical and social components of urban systems. REU/RET researchers in Dooling’s group could compare outcomes of ecological restoration efforts in two Austin neighborhoods that vary by household income, property values, density, ethnicity or habitat types. Students will be trained in ecological and social data collection and interpretation methods including use of spatial and narrative analysis software. Dooling is currently establishing UT’s Urban Ecology Laboratory in which the students will be conducting their research.
Department of Civil Engineering
Ben Hodges
Benjamin Hodges' research interests are in environmental fluid mechanics, particularly the physics of lakes and estuaries and scaling effects in rivers. Much of his research involves numerical models describing the physics that affect water quality. An example project for REU/RET researchers involves the effects of climate change on estuarine hypoxia. Under the NSF-sponsored WATERS Network Testbed Environmental Observatory program, Hodges’ group developed models to help understand hypoxia in Corpus Christi Bay. An REU student will review existing literature to set a range of hypoxia scenarios consistent with global climate model predictions. The student will then set up and run the models to provide insights on nonlinearity of the system due to climate.
Marine Science Institute
James W. McClelland
James McClelland’s research group focuses on the transport and fate of water, nutrients, and organic matter from watersheds through coastal ecosystems, including those near his laboratory at UT’s Marine Science Institute. Much of this work emphasizes human impacts on the coastal environment. McClelland uses historic data sets, field studies of biogeochemical cycling and constituent transport, and modeling. His field studies use O, C and N isotopes and other natural markers to track water, nutrients and organic matter. REU/RET researchers working with McClelland would use these approaches in local studies of land-sea coupling. Specific projects that students or teachers might pursue are (1) GIS-based analysis of relationships between land use and water chemistry in south Texas watersheds using historical data, (2) sampling and analysis of nutrient profiles along salinity gradients in local estuaries, and (3) examination of N and C isotope ratios in estuarine biota and watershed sources of nutrients and organic matter.
Ken Dunton is a biological oceanographer whose research is focused on estuarine and coastal processes in the Arctic, Antarctic, and Gulf Coast region. Climate change, management of rivers, and rapidly changing land use and land cover in Texas are having a profound effect on food webs that rely on coastal and estuarine systems. These sites provide excellent opportunities for undergraduate students and teachers to develop new knowledge. Potential projects include: 1) development of models to predict seagrass productivity and plant carbon balance as a function of in situ light, 2) experimental evaluation of water quality indicators to assess seagrass ecological status, and 3) the effect of freshwater inflows on the production ecology of local estuarine systems using water chemistry, stable isotopes, remote sensing and/or GIS techniques. Ongoing studies of the role of marine macrophytes in aquatic food webs using carbon and nitrogen isotopes also provide student research opportunities.
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