Inexpensive geophysical instruments can help meet a need for cost-effective siting of water wells in developing nations. We have developed resistivity, induced polarization, and seismic-refraction instruments that are useful in shallow hydrogeology studies. In addition, our free software can be used to interpret the data recorded by the instruments and produce predictions of subsurface lithologies. This entire suite of geophysical instruments, including a laptop computer for analysis and reports, can be assembled for less than US$600. It is hoped that trained indigenous well drillers and aid workers will use these instruments in support of their efforts to provide water to rural regions of the world that lack safe water.

Earth systems, when understood and respected, have the intrinsic capability to be instrumental for sustainable international development. If applied wisely without sophisticated technology, natural processes themselves can serve to sustain and prosper life in specific situations. Global initiatives to provide safe surface and groundwater are booming, but a parallel emphasis on sustainable sanitation is lagging, leaving 2.5 billion people without access to improved sanitation. Many technically sophisticated sanitation systems exist but are beyond the means of those same billions. The Water and Sewage Transformation Endeavor (W.A.S.T.E.) is a program at Wheaton College (Wheaton, Illinois) bringing together undergraduate students and faculty from various natural and social sciences to address the global need for improved sanitation. The goal of the program is to develop a low-tech wastewater treatment system for the Global South and beyond. A laboratory-scale waste stabilization pond system was constructed and studied to compare its effectiveness at reducing biological oxygen demand (BOD), as an indicator of pathogen disinfection, by varying light intensity, temperature, and detention time. The system with the highest light intensity and temperature and longest detention time performed the best, achieving 95% total BOD reduction. The project time line includes phase 1 indoor experimentation, phase 2 installation and operation of an outdoor pilot system, and the final phase 3 development of training programs for deployment of the technology into areas of need. The overall program has already proven to be an excellent educational opportunity for undergraduate students. It will ideally benefit many other student practitioners, and local trainees at candidate sites.

A numerical model of a spherical viscoelastic self-gravitating Earth has been used to predict the glacio-isostatic deformation of the Lake Michigan basin during late-glacial and postglacial times. Predictions of present rate of vertical movement agree well in trend but slightly exceed in magnitude the observed rate of tilting indicated by lake-level gauges. Predicted uplift curves for the four dominant outlets controlling the ancestral lakes of the Lake Michigan basin indicate an outlet chronology comparable to that proposed by glacial geologists despite the fact that the Chicago and Port Huron outlets are not predicted to be stable as is commonly believed. Predictions of tilting of the Algonquin shoreline match observations north of the Algonquin hinge line, but the predicted shoreline plunges below the present level of Lake Michigan at the hinge line location. In opposition to the commonly held belief in crustal stability south of the Algonquin hinge line, the predictions indicate considerable vertical movement there continuing to the present. If the predictions are correct, the subhorizontal shorelines south of the hinge line have been misinterpreted because the Glenwood shoreline, reported to be subhorizontal there, is predicted to be strongly tilted. Alternatively, correct interpretation of this shoreline implies serious deficiencies in the assumed ice-sheet history or Earth rheology used as input to the model.