Category Archives: Uncategorized

Using AI to Summarize Student Feedback

Much ink has been spilled on topic of college student use of generative AI. Less has been written about how faculty can take advantage off these tools. I’m going to describe a simple application that I’ve actually found useful. This … Continue reading

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Early Detection of At-risk Students – Then What?

According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES, 2022), only 64% of undergraduate students starting at a four-year institution in 2014 completed their degree within six years. Temple University, like all higher eduction institutions, is continually looking for ways … Continue reading

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Hysteresis in Archie’s Law

My former student and newly minted Ph.D., Dr. Gina Pope, and I recently had a paper accepted in the Journal of Environmental and Engineering Geophysics. We think the paper is important because is shows the necessity of monitoring the pore … Continue reading

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Program Like a Martian – An Introduction to Python Programming

Back in 2016-2017, Temple’s General Education office created a new course named Demystifying Technology. The novel idea was to offer six modules taught by six different instructors in a single semester: Algorithmic and Computational Problem Solving (2 weeks); Internet, Culture … Continue reading

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Rain clouds and Old Faithful

On my TODO list for this summer summer is preparing to teach Elements of Data Science for the Physical and Life Sciences in the fall. One of the labs in the class uses data collected on eruptions of the famous … Continue reading

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Evolving Soil Moisture Patterns at SMP I & J

Temple and Villanova installed a network of soil moisture sensors at a depth of 10 cm at the newly renovated Stormwater Management Projects I and J along the flank of Highway I-95. Tracking the near-surface soil moisture history is important … Continue reading

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ERT Surveys to Guide Infiltration Measurements

For several years now, I have been part of a team of researches from Temple and Villanova universities that is assisting the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) with the design and monitoring of bioswales, which are landscaped basins being constructed … Continue reading

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Geopython 2023 in Basel, Switzerland

This month I attended the Geopython 2023 conference in Basel, Switzerland. This was a well-organized conference with between 100-200 in-person attendees. The focus of most of the talks was on geospatial applications, particularly the rise of machine learning algorithms is … Continue reading

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Zeros and the Power of Junk on Time

Many years ago, when I worked at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, I remember complaining to a senior colleague that some of the massive project reports we received from consulting firms were little more than a brief introduction and a boiler-plate … Continue reading

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Transitioning Back to the Faculty

Looking Back My final year as Director of General Education (GenEd) has been a busy one and I have fallen behind on my blog posts. After five years as director, I feel a sense of satisfaction — that I’ve made … Continue reading

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