Jeremy Bracone (2005). Interfacing sedimentology and computer science: improving efficiency and data integrity
Faculty advisor: Gregg Brooks

ABSTRACT

Geology and sedimentology provide invaluable tools for solving modem environmental problems while advances in technology force scientific data to be stored and shared digitally. As technology rapidly evolves, legacy software designed to run integral lab equipment with computers that are incompatible with modern ones need to be analyzed and restructured to meet current standards. As part of a project to redesign software to run the settling tube at the Eckerd College sedimentology lab, current laboratory procedures and data management methods are analyzed and modified to meet new scientific and technological standards. To accomplish this, a software prototype was developed utilizing an easy graphical user interface backed by a database. The database will replace the reliance on hand-written datasheets, Excel@ worksheets, and manually entering settling tube data, while enhancing data integrity, security, efficiency, and reliability. Upgrading the existing software not only replaces an unreliable system necessary for running a settling tube, it creates a powerful tool for more effective and comprehensive data management. It also provides the framework for future developments to network with other scientific entities, increase functionality, and create a system that is more helpful in solving interdisciplinary environmental problems.