The Soils Laboratory
The Soils Laboratory of the Geography Department is a teaching and research facility for faculty, graduate and undergraduate students. The laboratory is outfitted with instruments and equipment for basic soil physical analysis and field work. The facility includes a fume hood, sediment trap, distiller, eye wash station, and safety shower. Major equipment in the lab includes a muffle furnace, oven, refrigerator, spectrometer, pH meter, sieve shaker, desiccators, scales and heating plates. The facility is routinely used for the Geography of Soils class (geog 4451) and occasionally for the Field Techniques (Geog 5612) class. Undergraduate and graduate student research projects that have utilized the facility are listed below. The lab is available for supervised use by community members for ventures such as middle school science fair projects. Faculty research, such as Prof. Farrell’s soils work, is conducted in the lab when the lab is not in use for teaching purposes. A local archaeology firm uses the lab for phytolith analysis on occasion.