Ohio State University has an outdoor laboratory space for giving students hands-on training in hydrogeologic field skills, right in the heart of campus at Mirror Lake. The Mirror Lake Water Science Learning Lab includes a network of shallow water table wells in the unconfined aquifer and a deep well (120′) in the confined aquifer. Instructional materials for introductory lab activities are available through CUAHSI Hydroshare (Sawyer et al., 2022).
The space has been created and maintained through funding from the National Science Foundation (EAR-1752995), Ohio State Energy Partners, and generous contributions from Jamison Well Drilling and alumni of the School of Earth Sciences. We welcome instructors to use the facility for their labs. To learn more, contact Audrey Sawyer.
References
Saup, C., K. Lamantia, Z. Chen, B. Bell, J. Schulze, D. Asldorf, A.H. Sawyer (2022), On-campus field experiences help students to learn and enjoy water science during the COVID-19 pandemic, Frontiers in Environmental Science, 10, doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2022.877327.
Sawyer, A.H., J. Cervenec, J. Schulze (2022). Introductory groundwater laboratory exercise for in-person and online teaching modes, HydroShare, https://doi.org/10.4211/hs.7f6295a88f2743a58e3447db650df0d2