Xavier University

Xavier University of Louisiana is reestablishing its participation in GLOBE following losses of faculty and equipment associated with its participation prior to Hurricane Katrina. Dr. Morewell Gasseller, a new physics faculty member, has used some salvaged equipment that he found on campus to involve his students in taking and reporting measurements including air temperature, precipitation, and aerosol optical thickness. Going forward, a class will offered to 8 senior education majors to prepare them to teach Earth science at the K-12 level. The course will emphasize inquiry-based teaching approaches and include discussions, interactive lectures, and hands-on and field-based experiences. The 2017 grant from YLACES is to provide equipment for taking GLOBE atmosphere and hydrosphere measurements and enable simultaneous water measurements from two 4-member teams.

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2019 Update: This year, the group published a paper based on research conducted with equipment provided by YLACES in a peer reviewed journal. The research focused on measuring the aerosol optical thickness of the atmosphere, using a sun photometer and digital voltmeter. Find out more about the research conducted here: https://www.jove.com/video/59257/measurement-aerosols-optical-thickness-atmosphere-using-globe