To promote understanding of Earth's CZ within undergraduate institutions, we will develop and field test a set of web based "off-the-shelf" educational materials for undergraduates and advanced high school students, based in part on data from the Calhoun.  Lab and classroom materials will be designed as free standing, inquiry-based modules that emphasize development of critical and quantitative reasoning skills.  In addition to using datasets collected in research studies, additional areas at the Calhoun can be instrumented to create on-line laboratories that provide students an ability to access and analyze real-time data (e.g., temperature and moisture probes, mini-rhizotrons, and webcams).  Maps, video interviews with researchers, case studies, and links to contemporary CZ issues will help establish the relevance of the Earth's Critical Zone and convey the sense of discovery and excitement behind the numbers.  Modules will be pilot tested at Roanoke College in courses for both science majors and non-science majors alike. Additional undergraduate and advanced high school classrooms in the southern Piedmont will be recruited to participate in testing and development.  Modules will be discussed in conference sessions and workshops at both scientific and pedagogical meetings, published on-line and in pedagogical journals, and disseminated widely through a variety of educational networks.

Undergraduate education

At Roanoke College, Duke, the University of Georgia, and the University of Kansas, undergraduates were involved in various ways with CZ science and the Calhoun CZO.  At Roanoke College, PI O'Neill has provided training and opportunities for professional development to undergrads by supporting eight independent studies and research projects, including two senior theses related to CZ science.  Laboratory and classroom activities have been developed and tested as part of the development of CZ educational materials that have been part of the education of more than 50 undergraduate Roanoke College students in the last 18 months.  One Roanoke undergraduate was enthusiastic enough to volunteer to work on two hot very arduous Calhoun summer field trips "in order to get field experience."  At Duke, a new interdisciplinary course entitled "Environment in Literature, Law, and Science" was given to more than 50 undergraduates, and the Earth's critical zone was made a cornerstone of the science in the class.  Also at Duke, twelve undergraduates in North Carolina State University's REU in Soil Science were given a day-long field tour in CZ science.  At UGA, undergraduates were trained by a Calhoun CZO PhD student in the soil judging competition in which the undergraduate team achieved national-level awards. Undergraduates also worked in a soil physics laboratory, completed a senior thesis, and three interned in a clay mineralogy lab processing CZO samples for isotope analyses.  An undergraduate from DePauw University interned with a UGA CZO lab to satisfy his experiential learning requirement for his degree program.  At the University of Kansas, three undergraduates were trained to use lab equipment to analyze soil sample incubations.

Graduate education

At Duke, Georgia Tech, Mississippi State, the University of Georgia, and the University of Kansas, graduate students are involved in significant ways with our CZ science and the Calhoun CZO.  At Duke, seven PhD students are working on CZ biogeochemistry, hydrology, and systems modeling.  Five have earned support from an NSF IGERT program in wireless technologies.  At Georgia Tech, graduate students work in Rafael Bras' and Jingfeng Wang's laboratories with highly talented post-docs and visiting research scientists at the flux tower, in model development and simulation, and data production, processing, and analysis.  At Mississippi State, a graduate student has worked to collect and analyze environmental history data.  At the University of Georgia, graduate students are trained to collect and analyze field EMI, electrical resistivity, stream chemistry, and soil phosphorus data.  At the University of Kansas, graduate students are trained in the use of soil and enzyme incubation techniques to assess soil microbial activities. All of these graduate students are presenting their results and integrated CZ science at a wide variety of forums, from AGU and EGU to local science and 4-H clubs. Calhoun PIs try to interact with all of these graduate students across institutions. They are publishing papers in flagship science journals such as Water Resources Research, receiving awards the interdisciplinary training that is needed for the next generation of Earth scientists.