Karst Study Using Geophysics at Bracken Bat Cave Preserve​ part of CUREnet:Institutes:Ad-Hoc CURE Institutes:Examples
Evelynn Mitchell, St. Marys University
South Central Texas depends on deep seated aquifers to maintain a water supply for over 5 million people. Much of this water supply is recharged through karst features in the Texas Hill Country. Understanding the features on a property helps determine the appropriate level of development, but geophysical methods have limitations on interpreting feature size. Students in this project built on previous work to examine the error of two common geophysical methods when detecting humanly accessible shallow karst features. They gained skills in site analysis using spatial software and high-resolution GPS collection, field work planning, data collection and analysis.

Non-Tuberculous Mycobacteria abundance and diversity in response to climate change part of CUREnet:CURE Collection
Carolina Mehaffy, Colorado State University
This CURE engages student in hypothesis-driven research to investigate how seasonal climate affects microbial diversity, particularly Non-Tuberculous Mycobacteria (NTM) communities found in environmental samples such as soil and water. The course focus on NTM diversity and physiology and its relationship with climate. Students are also introduced to climate change and how it may affect microbial diversity and abundance with implications to human health.