The members of the Department of Geology and Geography are involved in a number of research projects. These include work with local agencies, such as the Groundwater Project (below), with other departments, such as the Kids in the Garden program, and individual projects.
If you are a student interested in gaining hands on experience, contact faculty working in the area you are interested in to find out how you can become part of our on-going research.
The Southeastern North Carolina Groundwater Project has been very successful in helping the students involved with the project excel in their academic and professional development, as well as increase recruitment within our Geo-Environmental Studies program by providing internships in partnership with local water resource leaders. The Robeson County Water Department, local well drillers, and the Department of Geology and Geography at UNCP have collaborated on this program to monitor local groundwater resources. Students are mentored by our faculty to help develop a monitoring-well network on the campus and throughout the county. The interns are trained to collect and analyze water levels and water usage for the county then manage a publicly accessible online geodatabase for the groundwater information. The students collect and scan all types of well records, geophysical logs, and other resources from state and private archives to include in the geodatabase in order to summarize them and make the data available to the public. The project has identified background water level conditions in the region in order to inform water users and mitigate the use of our groundwater resources and try to help water managers curtail overuse so that future restrictions do not need to be implemented in the region.