9451818 Pani The teaching component of an environmental and earth sciences laboratory is being developed by the Department of Geosciences at Northeast Louisiana University. State and matching private funds are being provided for the research and community-service components. The learning center serves as a unique undergraduate teaching facility in which meteorological, geological and geographical studies are integrated and co-located with the resources needed to analyze and display information and to visualize major elements of ecosystems. It expands a research laboratory combining a modern system for acquisition, storage, and analysis of meteorological data with a geographical information system. Through the learning center, exciting improvements in undergraduate education occur as new exercises using actual situations involving both majors and non-majors in the discovery process. This helps the students to better understand basic scientific principles, visualize abstract concepts, and consider new data types such as those produced by Doppler radars.
