Coastal Geosystems in the Anthropocene

What is the broad research goal of our team?

Climate-related rising water levels and weather events, rapid urbanization, and various intense land-use practices lead to a significant modification and degradation across the coastal-lowland and coastal-ocean systems. The scientific support of the diverse maritime environments and communities requires a dedicated effort to generate, interpret, and communicate state-of-the-art, data-based, qualitative, and quantitative knowledge.

The VIP   lab team within the Gupta College of Science, led by Till J.J. Hanebuth who is a Coastal and Marine Geologist in the Department of Marine Science, aims at enhancing our understanding of source-to-sink distribution and accumulation processes. We collaborate closely with other experts, local NGOs, state agencies, and international colleagues to achieve our goals to the benefit of the coastal environments and communities.

What skills and expertise will team members gain?

• Water and sediment sampling, sediment coring
• Analysis of standard sedimentological and geochemical parameters on water, suspended particulate matter (SPM), and sediment; micropaleontological microscopy
• Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), coupled with EDS and WDS for element distribution mapping
• Seismo-acoustic data analysis with Kingdom Suite
• FTIR polymer measurement and data analysis with Spectragryph
• Ground-Penetrating Radar (GPR) subbottom surveying and data processing with ReflexW
• Real-Time Kinematic GPS (RTK-GPS) elevation surveying

In collaboration with external labs:

• Organic matter stable isotope analysis, terrigenous radiogenic isotope analysis, XRF core scanning, XRF element concentration measurement
• Shallow-water sidescan sonar surveying (Ping), subbottom sediment echosounding (Chirp)
• Lead/cesium (Pb/Cs), radiocarbon (¹⁴C), and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL)
• Compound-specific PFAS analysis

Team-member expectations:

Undergraduate students

The student will enroll in successive project-integrated courses that count as electives and have the aim to develop and advance an active scientific experience as part of our VIP team. As a measure of the success of the team as an entity and each of the team members, we will include modern mutual assessment methods. The courses will build on each other as follows:

1^st semester: Learning and applying basic technical lab skills and boat-based field experience under the guidance of a graduate student: basic sampling and data analyses (Research skills I).

2^nd semester: Launching your sub-project under the guidance of a graduate student.

3^rd semester: Learning and applying technical lab and boat-based field skills under the guidance of a graduate student: in-situ monitoring/logging and data analyses (Research skills II).

4^th semester: Scientific reading, communication, and presentation skills under the guidance of the project team (Leadership skills).

5-6^th semester: Working on your own research project under the guidance of a graduate student, optionally closing with a thesis report equivalent to a BS/HONR thesis; participation in and presentation at a regional conference (Scientist skills).

MS graduate students

The students will enroll in successive MSCI 599/CMWS 700/702 VIP courses. They will build on each other as follows:

1^st semester: Designing their thesis research project; learning and applying basic technical skills; boat-based field experience under the guidance of more advanced graduate students (Analytical skills).

2^nd semester: Applying advanced technical/analytical skills related to their thesis research, potentially in collaboration with a Ph.D. student; guiding and collaborating with undergraduate students; participating in and presenting at a regional conference (Advanced Analytical plus Leadership skills).

3^rd-4^th semester: Focusing on their thesis research by collaborating with, guiding, and being supported by undergraduate students; participation in and presentation at a national conference (Scientific skills).

To be recognized and rewarded as a VIP graduate student, it is mandatory to fulfill the expectations of the first two semesters to full satisfaction and complete their research project with a thesis.

Ph.D. students

The Ph.D. students with their advanced experience represent the backbone of the VIP team.

Majors and degree programs that are a good fit:

• Marine Science Major
• Honors Sustainability and Coastal Resilience Major

Course information:

• Till J.J. Hanebuth, Ph.D.,  thanebuth@coastal.edu
• coastal.edu/academics/facultyprofiles/science/coastalevironment/tilljjhanebuth/
• Contact the professor in charge to register 
• Further information (link to download a more detailed document )