Case-Study Report Project
As listed in the syllabus, students in the 319 secti
Case-Study Report Project
As listed in the syllabus, students in the 319 section of this course will be responsible for putting together a case study report, which will be worth 10% of the course grade. This is an opportunity to explore the geochemistry concepts we have been learning in the context of real-world issues. There will be a few minor milestones for the project to make sure everything is on track.
The report itself will be a 1200-1500 word written report on some real-world event or system, which you will choose. These can be environmental contaminant events or they can be studying the natural geochemistry of a system. Below I have provided a list of example subjects. These assignments should be completed individually.
Final Report Guidelines
12-point Times New Roman font, 1-inch margins, Word Document (not pdf)
1200-1500 words, not including figure captions and references
These should be written for clarity – please pay careful attention to grammar and spelling; excessive errors will result in points taken off
Analysis of a graph depicting geochemical data – this can be taken directly from one of your sources, but must be cited appropriately. Analysis consists of a textual descriiption of the graph in your own words and how it relates to the geochemistry.
Discussion of the geochemical details (i.e. what is the primary chemical reaction and what are the relevant equilibrium constants/kinetic rates/Eh-pH controls, etc.)
The paper itself should cover:
Background – Some descriiption of the context of your system or contaminant event (i.e. place, timing, conditions that led up to it). This should also include some setup for the contaminant or geochemistry of interest in a broad way. For example, if you’re studying agricultural runoff in a specific watershed, you can spend some time here discussion the issue of agricultural runoff globally and its scale of impacts.
A descriiption of the specific case study – what happened/is happening – when did it start/end? How have human/environmental systems been impacted? What remediation steps/policy actions have been taken?
Geochemistry Descriiption – This should be at least 2 paragraphs (400+ words) to describe the technical details of geochemistry involved in your topic. This could include a descriiption of the harmful reactions caused by a contaminant, the geochemical conditions that control contaminant mobility, details of remediation strategies, etc. This section should also contain a descriiption of a graph that can be taken from one of your primary sources.
Critical Analysis – What is your own specific take on this issue? What was done well and what was not done well? What would you do differently or what would you propose doing in the future to extend remediation/analysis efforts? Where might these events be likely to happen again and what could be done to prevent them?
A brief conclusion paragraph concisely summarizing your report
Milestones
List 2 topics you would be interested in exploring with a 1-2 sentence discussion of why you are interested in this topic. Friday Nov 10
A preliminary bibliography of sources and a brief 1 paragraph descriiption of the geochemistry specifics (i.e. what are the primary reactions involved/equilibrium constants/Eh-pH controls, etc.). This should include at least 5 primary peer-reviewed sources and at least 10 sources total. For the peer-reviewed sources, these should be papers published in scientific journals. Primary sources are papers that have directly measured something/tested a specific hypothesis/proven something. Review papers and textbooks are not primary sources, even if they are peer reviewed (these are great resources though for tracking down primary sources). Monday Nov 20
Case study report. December 6
Possible Case Study Topics
Arsenic contamination of groundwater in Southeast Asia
PG&E Hexavalent chromium contamination in Southern California
PFAS in Woburn, MA
Gold King Mine spill in Colorado
Specific instances of wetland restoration and their impacts on contaminant removal
Nitrogen and phosphorous pollution in the Mississippi from agricultural runoff
Limnic CO2 eruption events in Cameroon
Riverton, WY; Rifle, CO Uranium mine tailings and river pollution
Yucca mountain nuclear waste disposal
Flint, MI water supply
These are all good examples, but I would strongly encourage you to branch out from these to explore your own interest or impacts on your own communities.