Computer Science has four distinct roles in the Metals in Local Water project. First, we will be designing and building field-deployable remote monitoring systems for the on-campus study 17 plot. These are small, solar powered, single-board computer based units with the capability to monitor, record, and up-load temperature, pH (digital), conductivity, redox potential, pressure, and nitrate levels. This makes current data available to any campus-linked computer system for classroom or laboratory use, for archiving and for model development and testing.
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Second, we will be working with faculty in the Chemistry, Geosciences, Biology, and Mathematics departments to help them design and implement the computational components of their curriculum modules. For these disciplines, the challenges at hand are to teach their students a new framework for scientific inquiry, i.e. computational methods, and to show them how multi-disciplinary teams of scientists approach large, complex problems.
The third role of Computer Science is to design and implement a schema and user interface, based on a relational database management system, for the data generated by this project. This system will include both the field and experimental data and will be based on a web browser interface to maximize accessibility.
Our fourth and final role will be the implementation of new computer science courses and new modules in our current courses that are more heavily based on laboratory and field science.