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Facilities
The Environmental Science Lab is located
in SL307 and includes a separate projects lab. We have state-of-the-art
equipment for environmental testing. In addition, our students
are in the field very often so we have field sampling equipment,
including Hach water sampling kits, a pressure chamber to
measure water potential of plants, and a Time Domain Reflectometry
unit to measure soil water content. There are also two separate
lab buildings on campus for soils and GIS projects and classes.
A major strength of
our program is the unique access to various field sites, including
the Colorado National Monument, BLM land, USFS land on the
Grand Mesa and Uncompaghre Plateau, and the Colorado, Gunnison
and Yampa Rivers. These areas give us access to rangelands,
forests, wetlands, streams, lakes, ponds, threatened and rare
species, and restoration areas such as abandoned gravel, uranium
and coal mines.
Internships
Students typically complete an internship during
their junior or senior years in the program. These internship
experiences tend to be similar to entry-level, post-graduation
positions, giving our graduates excellent experience in the
work place.
Research Opportunities/Independent
Study
Recent student research projects
have included a vegetation restoration experiment at the Colorado
National Monument, soil water fluxuations with changes in
vegetation cover, mine closure projects near Rifle and Gateway,
energy efficiency analysis of campus buildings, invasive species
control in a local watershed, and runoff, sediment loading,
and vegetation change at Badger Wash. Students have brought
together many skills from their coursework to pursue these
projects, and have gained solid experience to take with them
into the job market.
Capstone
Students complete a 2 credit Capstone course in the
spring of their senior year. Student groups select a project
and work with a client in the Grand Junction community, similar
to a consulting contract. Past projects have included working
with the Bureau of Land Management, Division of Wildlife,
US Forest Service or local contractors. For their projects,
students have created a GIS of abandoned mine sites, a data
base of water quality for local watersheds, a plan for the
restoration of a local stream which has been overtaken by
an invasive species, and many others.
Class Projects
For many upper division courses,
independent projects are required. For instance, in Soils
student groups select an area to characterize the soils. Students
may then move on to an independent project in the area. In
Restoration Ecology, students do a restoration plan for a
local area. This includes background research, measuring primary
processes and suggestions for the repair of the damaged lands.
Three of the restoration projects have recently been carried
out.
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