Environmental Geophysics

Gregory S. Baker
,

gbaker@tennessee.edu

University of Tennessee
a

University with graduate programs, including doctoral programs

Summary

This course examines surface and borehole geophysical methods that are currently being developed in industry, government labs and academia for examining the upper 200 m of the Earth's surface.

Course URL:
Course Size:

less than 15

Course Context:

This is a upper-division course requiring at least two semesters of calculus and two semesters of calculus-based physics. The course meets once per week for up to 4 1/4 hours (when in the field) and is an elective for majors.

Course Goals:

Students should be able to determine appropriate survey design/acquisition parameters to avoid aliasing (spatial and temporal) of near-surface geophysical data
Students should be able to understand hypothesis development and the relationship between hypothesis testing and objectives
Students should be able to determine pros and cons of different near-surface geophysical techniques when applied to specific problems
Students should be knowledgeable with respect to typical "pitfalls" in data acquisition, processing, and interpretation of near-surface geophysics data
Student should be able to recognize the result of the misapplication of near-surface geophysical techniques in the literature, reports, and presentations

How course activities and course structure help students achieve these goals:

Exercises to link theoretical discussions in the classroom with application in the field are many and varied. Trial and error (i.e., learning through mistakes) is critical. Examination of data collected by others (e.g., literature) to assess methodologies.

Skills Goals

Write a report
Present (orally) the results of a project
Work collaboratively
Assess peer-reviewed literature

How course activities and course structure help students achieve these goals:

Repetition of the tasks including both peer and instructor feedback.

Attitudinal Goals

Many, but a specific goal is to impress upon students the need to maintain a high level of rigor in environmental geophysics in light of the institutional drive in the other direction (related to cost minimization, rather than the profit maximization in hydrocarbon/mineral exploration).

How course activities and course structure help students achieve these goals:

Examples of significant effort and tax dollars wasted because of a insufficient technique knowledge are presented.