Within the decade, career opportunities in the environmental sciences will outpace those in many other disciplines. To strengthen the curriculum in this area, eight univesity biology, geology, geography, and chemistry faculty are involved in a project to prepare students to address contemporary environmental issues. One such issue is the contamination of soil, water, and marine sediments with heavy metals, especially lead which is toxic to children at low blood lead levels. The state-of-the- art method of analysis employed by environmental laboratories for low levels of heavy metals, particularly lead, is atomic absorption spectrometry utilizing a graphite furnace. A new automated atomic absorption spectrometer equipped with a graphite furnace allows collection of heavy metal data in air particulates, river sediment, marine sediments, soils, plants, mussels, and shrimp in courses spanning four disciplines and ranging in difficulty from general education courses to advanced senior level courses for majors. The data are stored on an environmental science database shared by natural science classes that can be the basis for integrated studies in the form of special projects, statistical analyses, and independent study assignments. The new equipment can thus be used to expose non- science-majors to contemporary environmental issues, to prepare undergraduates for the technical demands required of advanced environmental professionals, and to strengthen critical thinking from an interdisciplinary perspective.
