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Twenty-five students over two years participated in an NSF GEOPATHs funded two-week, field-based summer research course and a follow up 15-week course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE). The goal was to attract, retain, and graduate a diverse group of students into an Environmental Geology program. Hispanic and female students were targeted for the cohorts, and 58% were female, 27% were Hispanic, and 8% were black. The students were split into two groups which worked in SW Florida. One group focused on surface water and groundwater in barrier islands and the other group studied calcite. Students in the surface water/groundwater group learned how to install temporary groundwater wells, collected groundwater and surface water samples, and analyzed water chemistry. Students in the calcite group learned how to collect field samples, prepare samples for analysis, and use advanced instrumentation to determine the calcite samples’ unit cells, atomic bonding, and classification. An attitude assessment, based on Lopatto (2010), was given at the end of both the summer and fall course. The students indicated that this research experience increased their confidence to conduct more research which occurs outdoors, help them identify as a scientist, and positively influenced their decision to major in Environmental Geology. Compared to the two-week summer program, survey results showed a slight decrease in students’ interest in the semester-long Fall course. Ninety six percent of the students indicated the SW Florida location caused them to be more invested in the research experiences, suggesting a sense of place was important to the students’ positive experiences during this project. Summer pre-test scores on summative assessments, based on Lewis et al. (2020), had a mean of 44% while the post-test had a mean of 68%. The Fall post-test mean increased to 88%. Paired t-tests for the summer and fall assessments show a statistically significant difference between the pre- and post-test scores. The students seemed to have a slightly more positive attitude towards research and geology as a result of the field experience, but their learning was higher after the semester-long CURE course. Fifty six percent of the cohort graduated with a degree in geoscience; 79% of the cohort currently have jobs in the geoscience sector or are attending graduate school the rest are still enrolled. 

Two carbonate units from Southwest Florida, the Caloosahatchee and Fort Thompson Formations, were studied using X-ray instruments to understand more about their origins. The Caloosahatchee Fm. is late Pliocene to early Pleistocene in age while the Fort Thompson Fm. is late Pleistocene in age. Powdered X-ray diffraction (PXRD) was used to obtain the mineral composition of these formations. PXRD revealed the Caloosahatchee Fm. consists predominantly of calcite with lesser quartz and aragonite. PXRD of the carbonate rocks from the Fort Thompson Fm. are also predominantly calcite with lesser quartz and aragonite. Fossils were picked by hand from poorly cemented Caloosahatchee Fm. samples and analyzed on the PXRD. These fossils were predominantly aragonite with minor calcite. Carbonates from the Caloosahatchee and Fort Thompson Fms. were also analyzed for their major and trace element geochemistry using a portable X-Ray fluorescence (pXRF). The Caloosahatchee Fm. has a Mg/Ca ratio which ranges from 0.07 to 0.10, Sr which ranges from 368 to 1650 ppm, and Al which ranges from 0.08 to 0.35 wt.%. No As was detected in the Caloosahatchee Fm. The Fort Thompson Fm. was divided into lower and upper units for pXRF analysis. The lower Fort Thompson Fm. has a Mg/Ca ratio which ranges from 0.08 to 0.10, Sr which ranges from 197 to 1097 ppm, and Al which ranges from 0.05 to 0.38 wt.%. The upper Fort Thompson Fm. has a Mg/Ca ratio which ranges from 0.07 to 0.10, Sr which ranges from 92 to 1015 ppm, and Al which ranges from 0.21 to 1.33 wt.%. The lower Fort Thompson Fm. has no As detected in it, but the upper Fort Thompson had 5 ppm As. The low (< 0.8) Mg/Ca ratio and calcite being the predominant mineral in both formations indicate they are limestone. The presence of quartz, and the Al values suggest both formations have terrestrial contributions and are not pure marine limestone. The higher Al of the upper Fort Thompsons suggest it might have the largest terrestrial contribution. The Sr values for the Caloosahatchee Fm. are higher than the Fort Thompson Fms. This could be due to a higher marine influence in the Caloosahatchee Fm. The PXRD suggests the aragonite is originating from the shells within the formations. The lack of significant As in all rocks suggests leaching of this metal into the environment is not a concern. 

Twenty-six students participated in an NSF GEOPATHs funded undergraduate research experience. This experience consisted of a two-week field-based summer research course and a follow-up 15-week course-based undergraduate research experience. The goal of this project was to attract, retain, and graduate a diverse group of students into a new Environmental Geology BS program. Hispanic and female students were targeted for the cohorts. 58% of our cohort were female, 27% were Hispanic, and 8% were black. The students were split into two groups. One group focused on barrier island groundwater in Southwest Florida and the other group studied calcite from Southwest Florida. Students in the groundwater cohort learned how to install temporary groundwater wells, collect groundwater and surface water samples, use probes and laboratory methods to measure water quality. Students in the calcite group learned how to collect and prepare samples for analytical work and use advanced instrumentation to determine the calcite’s unit cells, atomic bonding, and classification. Summative assessments based on Creative Exercises of Lewis et al. (2010) were given as pre- and post-tests during the summer field courses and again at the end of the fall course. A combined mean score for the summer pre-tests was 45%, while the fall post-tests score was 68%. A paired samples t-test for the combined summer assessment suggests a statistically significant difference between the pre- and post-test scores (t-score = 2.06; P = 2.55 x 10-6). An attitude assessment was based on Lopatto (2010) CURE survey and was given at the end of both courses. The students indicated this research experience increased their confidence to: conduct more research, and research with an outdoor component; help them identify as a scientist; and, positively influenced their decision to major in environmental geology. The students also indicated the location of the research experiences in Southwest Florida caused them to be more invested in the research. This suggests sense of place was impactful to the students’ positive experiences during this project.