This summer featured a more complex mix of activities than previous summers. There were two classic GDEP field and lab research projects, a research trip out to Rapa Nui (Easter Island), an extended field trip, and a teaching workshop. Here is a brief overview of each of these.

Palos Verdes Hydrogeology Project

Dr. Greg Holk led a classic GDEP field and lab research project out to the Palos Verdes Peninsula. There, the team collected well water samples around the Portuguese Bend landslide. In the lab, they did chemical isotope analyses to learn the sources of the water at depth, which lubricates the weak layers in the landslide. They found that quite a bit of this water is exotic, with isotope signatures suggesting exotic irrigation water. This would have been useful information back in the 1950s and 1960s, after the slide reactivated and suburban homeowners claimed that Caltrans' work on the Crenshaw Extension is what triggered it!

Recovering and Stable California Sage Scrub

Drs. Paul Laris and Chrys Rodrigue led a project that tried to find factors that might differentiate areas where CSS is recovering into exotic annual grassland from those in which it has been unable to make headway into the exotic grassland. The team took soil samples and did plant identification and coverage studies along several transects across that ecotone, mainly in the westernmost Santa Monica Mountains (which required campouts). Soil turned out not to be significantly different on either side of these boundaries, but the team was able to identify pioneering species that can lead the way into the grassland, which may be useful information for restoration projects.

Rapa Nui

Dr. Chris Lee led a small team out to Rapa Nui, where they worked on GPSing the moai or giant head scultures for which Easter Island is famous. They also worked on creating a digital elevation model of the island. Meanwhile, back in the CSULB labs, Drs. Carl Lipo and Suzanne Wechsler worked on developing educational materials about Rapa Nui based on this fieldwork and the fieldwork done there last summer.

Tour of Central California

Dr. Lora Stevens organized an extended field trip for high school and community college students. The team drove up the central California coast, over the Coastal Ranges and across the San Joaquin Valley into the Sierra Nevada, learning about California geology and geography while camping under the stars at night. They drove back down the Owens Valley and the Mojave Desert and wound up seeing an amazing array of California's diverse landscapes, which hopefully excited them as much as field trips, hiking, and camping got a lot of geologists and geographers interested in the geosciences!

The Chataqua

Drs. Rick Behl and Tom Kelty developed an intensive workshop for K-12 teachers to give them information and ideas for conveying the Earth Science Standards to their students. In K-12 education, various groupings of academic disciplines are conveyed through the Standards. Geology and physical geography fall under the Earth Sciences Standards, which are a part of the Science Standards. Teachers are always looking for ways to get the Standards across to their students, and this GDEP workshop was a way of bringing them together with practitioners of these disciplines to bounce ideas around, learn new concepts, and develop appropriate lesson plans and curricula. This workshop drew nearly 100 teachers, and GDEP will deliver a lasting impact on huge numbers of students through these teachers!