Category: Research Projects
In the last 30 years, the risk of inland flooding in the United States has increased dramatically. Extreme rainfall events have become more frequent, causing widespread flooding and water damage. The costs to repair, rebuild, and remediate flooding have grown each year. Flooding in the Midwest in 2019 alone affected 14 million people and came […]
Imagine that you’re visiting a new city and want to know the best place to get ice cream. You might open your favorite search engine and check out reviews. Or you might see what people on Twitter have to say. Perhaps you decide to search for specific terms and see if more people recommend you […]
From 2001: Space Odyssey to The Terminator, our collective imagination is fascinated with Artificial Intelligence (AI). Even Disney Pixar’s Wall-E has something to say about AI, though on a lighter and arguably more accurate note. AI models are no longer futuristic or reserved for specific niche tech businesses or advanced computer science classes. Our Narrative […]
Is there a map that shows the distribution of the three major rocks types—igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary—around the world? Our TecRocks team asked this question while trying to find real-world phenomena to engage students in the exploration of environments related to rock genesis. It seemed like a map like this should exist. Our hope was […]
We are excited to announce that our GeoCode: Volcanic Hazards module is available for public use! This free two-week curriculum for middle and high school students has been piloted by participating research teachers as part of the National Science-Foundation funded GeoCode project and extensively studied and redesigned based on our research. It is now available […]
Climate change, and the rise of the natural hazards that climate change brings, has been at the top of news feeds every week over the past year. Extreme events such as floods, droughts, and wildfires are expected to increase in the future. What does that mean for those of us living in the path of […]
We recently revised our mission and vision statements, and described our efforts to address issues of diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice in several of our research projects. We know that this was only a beginning. As we said, “We are still learning how to design science, technology, engineering, and mathematics resources that are more socially […]
In collaboration with Rutgers University, UNC Greensboro, and middle school students and teachers in New Brunswick, New Jersey, we are investigating the development and implementation of life science materials that support local, consequential learning.
The American West is burning. Wildfires rage, firefighters battle to contain fires, families are forced to evacuate their homes, and smoke chokes neighborhoods hundreds of miles away. Multiple years of drought have desiccated trees, shrubs, and grasses and transformed the western United States into a tinderbox. Air Quality Index and active fires in the western […]
Robert Constantinescu, a Ph.D. candidate in volcanology at the University of South Florida (USF), flew to the island of St. Vincent after the explosive activity at the La Soufrière volcano subsided. Between May 1 and 13, 2021, he worked alongside local scientists from the Seismic Research Centre of the University of West Indies to collect […]