Hi Reddit, I am Terri Woods of East Carolina University. Ask me anything
about the aqueous geochemistry and/or using augmented reality to teach
surface geology!
Abstract
ACS AMA Hi Reddit, I’m Terri Woods! I am an Associate Professor of
Geological Sciences at East Carolina University (ECU). In 1971 I entered
the University of Delaware with the goal of teaching high-school
Spanish. Instead I became fascinated by how things work in the
geological world and changed my major. While working on an MS at
Arizona, I worked for the Anaconda Copper Company in Tucson and did
mineral exploration with them in Montana. My thesis involved microprobe
and fluid-inclusion work on a garnet skarn. I interviewed with
mining/oil companies but got turned off by comments from interviewers
such as; “We are looking for a few good gals”. Luckily, I got another
offer from the USGS in Reston, Virginia to work on the epithermal
sulfide deposit at Creede, Colorado. I worked there for 3 years but my
husband and I got tired of the DC area and went cruising on our 43-foot
wooden sailboat. We ran out of money in St. Petersburg, Florida at a
time when geology employment was hard to come by so I worked
minimum-wage jobs until Bob Garrels (USF-Marine Science) asked me to run
his lab. For the next 5 years I helped Bob with projects such as copper
corrosion in sulfate, carbonate and chloride solutions; water chemistry
in equilibrium with Australian BIF; C and S cycling through geological
time, and compilation of thermodynamic data. I got my Ph.D. in 1988.
That fall I started as a faculty member at ECU. I did lab work on copper
corrosion, but students were into hydro-environmental studies so I began
investigating the chemistry of water from local aquifers. That research
continues, but I have also worked on the impact of reverse-osmosis brine
discharge into Albemarle Sound, chemistry of nearby streams, and
petrology of aquifer materials. I’ve devoted a lot of time to science
outreach. Most recently, I have investigated a technology that helps
people understand surficial processes and topographic maps - the
Augmented Reality Sandbox: short demo video
https://mediasite.ecu.edu/MS/Play/ba30d1a13a684667ab155bfa58fd782a1d
longer educational video
https://mediasite.ecu.edu/MS/Play/e579f009dbca41e79f0d84d7207a714a1d
This past spring (2017), I was happy to serve as the scientific
consultant for the ACS Reactions video “Why is the Statue of Liberty
Green?” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZSLrXtg1-o So, Reddit, ask me
anything about aqueous geochemistry, copper corrosion, or using
augmented reality to teach surface geology. I’ll be back to start
answering your questions at 12pm EST (9am PST; 5pm UTC).