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>> So in geology and environmental sciences  you really need to get out in the field.
And that's why it's important to come to a
site like this, because if all you do is learn
out of a book, you're not going
to be ready for the workforce.
And that's what I view my job as, is one
where I'm not training you to graduate,
I'm training you to get a job and keep it.
And that's the important thing with a living
laboratory like this is you get the opportunity
to actually learn by doing the kind of tasks
that you would be doing some
day as a working geologist.
And that's pretty important for your future.
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Sensitivity thing, right, turn
that on and all the way positive.
Yep, just stick the probe in.
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>> Hi, my name is Katie Monsado
I am a graduate student from
Cal State San Bernardino.
I am a geology major.
And today we are working out in the
field and we are measuring water depths
and monitoring wells around Zzyzx, California.
>> That's looking better.
All right, let's raise it up.
Let's see what it does.
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Yeah.
>> All right.
We got to find a way to adjust that because it's
going to get a great photo of the line.
>> All right.
Ahh so we need to move it.
>> So the students made aerial
maps using a blimp
to take photographs the same way
that a GPS would take positions.
And using these overlapping photographs
on a high power computer they could model
the earth's surface, which is important
in groundwater studies to understand
the water below the surface.
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>> So having this hands-on education with this
class out at the Zzyzx Desert Study Center,
I can go to an employer, and if they ask me, have you ever dealt with groundwater,
have you ever had to measure well
fills, and I go, yes, I have.
And I can point to the data and
show them a project and portfolio
and say, hey, I'm qualified to do this.
And so at CSUSB, having that hands-on
learning makes me a more competitive asset
to a future employer.
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