I believe that hands-on experience is a critical part of the learning process, and because of this, I felt it worthwhile to highlight some of the projects that included field work as a key feature of their methodology. While these projects featured significant research components as well, the field work element is important enough to distinguish them from the projects that did not feature a hands-on component.
The grain size analysis paper featured above is one of two papers that I created as a part of my sedimentation and stratigraphy class; the other paper is on marsh cores and can be found in the skills section of this website. This paper included field work to gather sediment from the Potomac River; while the samples were gathered in groups, I was able to get first-hand experience collecting sediment, as well as noting the location where the sediment was gathered for future use. Once the sediment had been gathered, I was responsible for using mathematical formulas and the ImageJ and Excel software to analyze the grain size, sorting, skewness and kurtosis of both the sample from the Potomac River and the sample sourced from the Rappahannock River. I compiled the results from these processes into an Excel spreadsheet and created graphs of the data to help the data be palatable to a reader. I then compared the grain characteristic data to peer-reviewed, scientific publications that used grain size analysis as a part of their methodology.
This paper served to familiarize me with the ImageJ software, as well as getting more experience using Excel. I also improved my written communication skills in order to relay the data and the conclusions that I drew from said data to the audience.
I wrote a paper on the geological formations on and near the Fall Line in Northern Virginia as part of my Field Methods class. As such, the research process for this project was mostly hands-on field work, giving me an opportunity to familiarize myself with the operation of several important pieces of field gear, such as Brunton compasses, hand lenses, grain size charts, and using GPS coordinates in conjunction with USGS maps to both locate my field sites and display strike, dip, and foliation of outcrops. During this project, as well as throughout the class, I took many field notes, and I felt that I could see a notable improvement in both the organization of my field notes and the level of detail that I recorded by the end of the semester. As a part of my field notes, I was tasked with identifying the minerals present in the outcrops, taking strike and dip, and creating field sketches.