Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory Hosts Annual Open House
by Michael J. Passow
Earth Sciences CorrespondentThe Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO) of Columbia University, continuing a long tradition of opening its grounds and labs to the general public, hosted its annual Open House on 26 September 1998. The other 364 days a year, the LDEO facilities are available only to researchers, but once a year tents rise around the campus, labs are decorated with displays, and the scientists, graduate students, and staff welcome more than two thousand visitors, some coming from as far as Maryland and Massachusetts, as they swarmed over the beautiful campus located above the Hudson River at the New York/New Jersey state line to learn about the latest LDEO research topics and other fascinating studies of our planet.
Lamont Hall -- once the country mansion of J. P. Morgan's banking partner Thomas Lamont, whose family donated the estate to Columbia fifty years ago -- was once more fitted with cutting-edge technology that permitted visitors to take a live, interactive tour of the Biosphere 2 in Arizona. From Biosphere 2, now operated as an educational research and conference center by Columbia University, scientists linked to Open House visitors by teleconferencing to describe their investigations and answer questions.
The Columbia Earth Institute's Earth Engineering Center provided displays about programs in Earth, Environmental, and Materials Science Engineering in other rooms of Lamont Hall. Outside in the driveway, the Volvo Corporation provided demonstrations of its 1998 prototype "Alternative-Fuel Vehicles," passenger cars that can use gasoline and other fuels.
Nearby, LDEO marine geologist Kim Kastens led elementary-school children through demonstrations of "Where Are We?," a software program she has developed to help develop map-reading skills. Activities for children filled many of the other tents scattered around the grounds, including "Bathtub Science" ( billed as "a demonstration of the sometimes hard, sometimes soft surface of our planet"); hands-on exhibits provided by the Tenafly Nature Center; and face painting.
Outside the Marine Biology building, visitors could try out another LDEO-sponsored educational program, "EarthView Explorer." This CD-ROM-based project allows students to use real data sets to investigate earthquakes, volcanoes, sea floor topography, sea surface temperatures, and other planetary phenomena.
But explaining to the public about current LDEO research investigations is the main attraction of the Open House. Columbia University has several new, extensive research initiatives that created displays to showcase their projects. The new Remote Sensing Laboratory in the Geoscience Building featured "Earth from Space," providing visitors with images of Earth from above, including some made by special computer and 3-D devices.
CIESIN -- the Consortium for International Earth Science Information Network -- provided computerized demonstrations and information about their research into many aspects of our planet's processes. The LDEO Tree Ring group recently moved into spacious new quarters on the main campus, and provided interesting displays about how scientists gather, interpret, and use dendrochronology.
Outside the Seismology Building were displays showing how seismograms can be produced. A small instrument array permitted visitors to see the results of smashing a metal plate with a sledge hammer. Nearby, geochemists modeled changes in carbon dioxide levels through real-time manipulations of photosynthesis, respiration, and anthropogenic CO2 sources.
Other geochemists hosted visitors to the Mass Spectrometer Laboratory and the "Cleanlab," where samples are prepared in ultra-clean conditions. Elsewhere in the building, displays were set up describing various research cruises around the world, rock melting, groundwater, and biogeochemical cycles. Visitors who brought rock and minerals samples tried to "Stump the Geologist," a normally-serious deep-earth petrologist now sitting on a stool dressed in a Wizard's costume.
LDEO's Core Repository is the largest in the world. Scientists and staff demonstrated how samples of materials from the deep ocean floors have been collected by the Research Vessel "Maurice Ewing" (named for LDEO's founder), and her predecessors, "Vema" and "Robert Conrad." More recently, LDEO has been the East Coast repository for cores collected by the "JOIDES Resolution," a unique deep-sea drilling ship operated by the Ocean Drilling Program.
At various times during the day, LDEO research scientists and graduate students presented short lectures about some of the many areas of current investigations. A sample of the titles include: "Living with Natural Disasters," "How Old Is the Earth and How Do We Know?," "El Ni–o and Monsoons," "Control of the Caribbean Rainfall," "Chicken Little Was Right, the Sky Is Falling," and "Baywatch, the Dow Jones, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa: Rethinking Information Needs in the Era of Global Change."
A first for educators this year was "Teaching About the Seas." This was a series of 15-20 minute mini-workshops describing educational activities for grades 5-12 about ocean currents, tides, El Ni–o, satellite oceanography, and using the Internet to teach about the oceans. (This was where I spent most of my time, as I was the presenter.)
This year's Open House was coordinated by Douglas Brusa, whom I thank for his cooperation in setting aside the Geochemistry Seminar Room for the teacher-oriented mini-workshops, which may become a regular feature of this annual event.
During the current academic year, there will be other special opportunities for teachers to go onto the LDEO campus for discussions with research scientists and training in classroom-ready activities. Dr. John Mutter, Associate Director, has approved a series of five "Saturday Workshops for Educators," which I will coordinate. Each three-hour session will feature LDEO researchers describing the techniques and key findings in their areas of investigation. Around their presentations, I will present teacher training activities that can be adapted for classroom use in such topics as ocean circulation, tides, waves, upwellings, El Ni–o, and satellite oceanography.
The Workshops will be held on 16 Jan 1999 (snow date: 30 Jan); 6 Feb (snow date : 20 Feb); 20 Mar; 10 Apr; and 24 Apr. Registration for all five sessions is $40, or $10 for individual sessions if space allows. Space is available for only 30 registrants. For more information or to register, contact me at: mjpassow@worldnet.att.net or (fax) 201-541-9702. These Workshops are co-sponsored by the Westchester Section of the Science Teachers Association of New York State, the Eastern Section of the National Association of Geoscience Teachers, and American Meteorological Society "Maury Project" Peer Trainers.
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