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Environmental Sciences
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Department
of Environmental Sciences
University
of Virginia
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| Teaching |
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Professor Fuentes and gradaute
students
take the classroom to the forest.
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Several
courses taught within the Department of Environmental Sciences use the
Virginia Forest to give both graduate and undergraduate students
hands-on experience with modern equipment used to study
biosphere-atmosphere interactions. Students benefit by observing
the in situ application of methods and concepts taught in the
classroom. Students are given the opportunity to mount and
calibrate instruments on the tower. Experience is gained in
interfacing instrumentation with data loggers and computers. Once
this is achieved, students can view data streaming in real time.
Data sets are collected and brought back to the classroom where they
are analyzed and important concepts are further explored.
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Professor Fuentes explains the theory
of operation of the open path infrared gas analyzer to graduate
students in his Micrometeorology course.
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Integrating
classroom knowledge with field experience solidifies
concepts for students and stimluates their interest in the
subject. Interest generated in undergraduates on these field
trips has produced succesful applications to pursue graduate work in
our department.
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