Category: faculty research

Some Data on our Research Data Services

The Library’s Research Data Services (RDS) Team supports research projects and learning across multiple disciplines involving quantitative, qualitative, business, and spatial/GIS data. We collaborate with and advise Georgia State University’s researchers across the entire research lifecycle, including accessing and using unique data, using data analysis software, managing data, and sharing data for reuse by other researchers. Find out more about our specific services at http://library.gsu.edu/data.

In our inaugural year (FY17), the Research Data Services Team, led by Mandy Swygart-Hobaugh, provided over 250 consultations to Georgia State University’s researchers. Check out some statistics and visualizations, generated here by Mandy in Tableau from the data we logged for our research data services (RDS) consultations, which illustrate the breadth and depth of our experiences during our inaugural year.

Student Innovation Fellows Showcase on Feb. 15

Congratulations to Dr. Brennan Collins, students, faculty, and staff for putting on a great show on February 15 in CURVE, celebrating the work of GSU Student Innovation Fellows (SIFs). The Student Innovation Fellowship Program allows students to develop expertise and share ideas around emerging technologies and instructional innovations, with particular attention to enhancing learning and research at Georgia State through the innovative use of technology.

Attendees, around 50 in all, where invited to:

Smithsonian, Human Origins Researchers Use CURVE’s Visualization Technology

Georgia State University recently hosted a conference for researchers from the Hominin Sites and Paleolakes Drilling Project (HSPDP), in collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution’s Human Origins Program. The HSPDP consists of five research teams from 12 countries, plus the Smithsonian Research team that is collaborating with HSPDP.  GSU’s own Dr. Dan Deocampo directs the lab which analyzes the mineral samples from 5 of 6 core sites using X-ray diffraction techniques.

Drilling rig at Lake Magadi, Kenya, in summer, 2014 and NSF's National Lacustrine Core Facility at the University of Minnesota – Dr. Deocampo, Dr. Tim Lowenstein, and Dr. Jiuyi Wang
Drilling rig at Lake Magadi, Kenya, in summer, 2014 and NSF’s National Lacustrine Core Facility at the University of Minnesota – Dr. Deocampo, Dr. Tim Lowenstein, and Dr. Jiuyi Wang

To help visualize scanned core images, project team members worked with the CoreWall team, a group of scientific software developers who support researchers viewing images stitched together as seamless image files. With the cores ranging from 300 to 600 meters in length, visualizing these core images on a large digital canvas enhances the teams’ analytical capabilities. The 24 foot (7.3 meters wide) interactWall at Georgia State University Library’s CURVE provided the perfect digital canvas for the six research teams. Deocampo noted of the interactWall, “This technology allows us to closely examine the sediment in detail while keeping the larger context – we’re literally looking through a window at the earth’s history millions of years ago. This is helping us understand how changing climate affects the environment, ecosystems, and organisms in Africa and around the globe.” The Hominin Sites and Paleolakes Drilling Project team took full advantage of the visualization capacities of the interactWall.

Dr. Andy Cohen, Distinguished Professor of Geosciences at the University of Arizona, examines a core from Lake Turkana, Kenya.
Dr. Andy Cohen, Distinguished Professor of Geosciences at the University of Arizona, examines a core from Lake Turkana, Kenya.

 

Dr. Jenni Scott from Mt. Royal University (Canada) shows Dr. René Dommain from Smithsonian Institution and Chad Yost, Ph.D. Candidate from University of Arizona the core from Olorgesailie, Kenya.
Dr. Jenni Scott from Mt. Royal University (Canada) shows Dr. René Dommain from Smithsonian Institution and Chad Yost, Ph.D. Candidate from University of Arizona the core from Olorgesailie, Kenya.

 

Dr. Anders Noren from the National Lacustrine Core Facility at the University of Minnesota examines the core from Lake Baringo (Tugen Hills), Kenya.
Dr. Anders Noren from the National Lacustrine Core Facility at the University of Minnesota examines the core from Lake Baringo (Tugen Hills), Kenya.

 

Dr. Tim Lowenstein, from the Binghamton University, discusses the Lake Turkana core with Dr. Cat Beck from Hamilton College, and Dr. Emily Beverly, a Post-Doctoral Research Scientist in the Department of Geosciences at Georgia State University.
Dr. Tim Lowenstein, from the Binghamton University, discusses the Lake Turkana core with Dr. Cat Beck from Hamilton College, and Dr. Emily Beverly, a Post-Doctoral Research Scientist in the Department of Geosciences at Georgia State University.

 

Emma McNulty, PhD candidate at Binghamton University, zooms in on an element of the core from Lake Magadi, Kenya.
Emma McNulty, PhD candidate at Binghamton University, zooms in on an element of the core from Lake Magadi, Kenya.

 

Dr. Jenni Scott, Mt. Royal University (Canada) discusses with Dr. Rick Potts, Director of the Human Origins Program at the Smithsonian Institution, the core from Olorgesailie, Kenya, collected by the Smithsonian and Kenyan science team.
Dr. Jenni Scott, Mt. Royal University (Canada) discusses with Dr. Rick Potts, Director of the Human Origins Program at the Smithsonian Institution, the core from Olorgesailie, Kenya, collected by the Smithsonian and Kenyan science team.

 

The Hominin Sites and Paleolakes Drilling Project team. GSU team members include Dr. Dan Deocampo, Chair of the Department of Geosciences, graduate students Nate Rabideaux, Alexandra Simpson, Karim Minkara, and undergraduate students David Davis and Sanam Chaudhary.
The Hominin Sites and Paleolakes Drilling Project team. GSU team members include Dr. Dan Deocampo, Chair of the Department of Geosciences, graduate students Nate Rabideaux, Alexandra Simpson, Karim Minkara, and undergraduate students David Davis and Sanam Chaudhary.

Our One-Year Anniversary!

Report CoverIt was one year ago today that the University Library welcomed distinguished guests including President Mark Becker, Vice President for Research & Economic Development James Weyhenmeyer, numerous student and faculty presenters, and approximately 120 attendees from the University and Atlanta communities to the official opening of CURVE.

What a successful first year we’ve had! We invite you to read our annual report (pdf; 15MB) documenting the many student, faculty, and staff accomplishments that have taken place in CURVE since last fall’s ribbon cutting.