Geography & Environmental Science
Physical Geography teaching labs
Physical Geography Teaching Labs
The $82 million Prairie Springs Science Center was completed in 2018 and the 187,000 square foot building houses several Physical Geography and Environmental Science spaces, including two instructional labs and their support rooms. The instructional labs are outfitted with materials and facilities for performing physical, chemical, and biological analysis of soils, sediment, and water. The labs contain an extensive rock and mineral collection, a wide variety of tools for hands-on learning of climate and Earth surface processes, computers loaded with physical geography and GIS-related software, two stream tables, and an augmented reality sandbox.
For more information about the state-of-the-art Prairie Springs Science Center, please visit this website. If you have any questions about use of equipment in the Physical Geography Instructional Labs, please contact Dr. Colin Belby or Dr. Joan Bunbury.
Teaching Laboratory Equipment
Teaching Lab Instrumentation
The following equipment is available for student use while taking environmental and physical geography courses.
- Thermo Scientific muffle furnace
- Soiltest drying oven
- VWR water bath
- VWR magnetic hotplate stirrers
- Humboldt sieve shakers
- RO-TAP sieve shaker
- Fume hoods
- Microsoft Surface Pro tablets (x20)
- Nikon stereo microscope (x12)
- Nikon compound microscope (x9)
- Thermo Scientific centrifuges
- Mettler Toledo precision balances (x4)
- Thermo Scientific pH meters (x2)
Emriver Stream Tables
The Department of Geography and Environmental Science has two Emriver Em2 stream tables for demonstrating river processes and conservation principles to UWL students. The portable stream tables are also frequently used during outreach events for people of all ages and backgrounds in the community. The color-coded-by-size sediment in each table aids in the visualization of sediment transport and deposition processes. Cameras installed above the stream tables enable students to record river processes from multiple angles. Stream table accessories include a wavemaker, flow controllers, a level rod for surveying channel profiles, and materials for demonstrating the effects of human activities on the floodplain and in the channel.
For more information about the Emriver Em2 stream tables, please visit the Little River Research & Design website or contact Dr. Colin Belby.
Demonstrations on the Em2 Stream Table
Augmented Reality Sandbox
The Department of Geography and Environmental Science Department constructed an Augmented Reality Sandbox (AR Sandbox) for instructional and outreach use. The AR sandbox provides students a hands-on understanding of how map contours translate to real world topography and how water flows across the landscape.
For more information about the AR Sandbox, please contact Steve Fulton or Dr. Colin Belby.
 Front View of AR Sandbox |
 Oblique View of AR Sandbox |
Augmented Reality Sandbox Major Components
| Computer | Alienware x51 r3 (i5) |
| Graphics Card | NVIDIA GTX970 |
| Projector | inFocus IN124sta |
| Mount | CHIEF RSM A-D |
| SAND | Sandtastik Play Sand - Sparkling White |
| Kinect | 1414 |
| Mount Frame | 80/20 |
| Control Box |
Groovy TB3 Trackball 8 Spectra Lite Pushbuttons 4 Arcade Prime Pushbuttons |
Sandbox Size: 36" x 48"
Rock and Mineral Collection
Rock and Mineral Collection
John and Mary Boland Collection
Items listed below are donated by John and Mary Boland, members of the Coulee Rock Club.
Margaret Chew Memorial Collection
Items listed below were donated by John Boland and Robert Wingate in memory of Dr. Margaret Chew, a member of the Department of Geography and Environmental Science at UW-La Crosse from 1945 - 1979.
Robert "Doc" Wingate Collection
Items listed below are on loan from the personal collection of Robert "Doc" Wingate, a member of the Department of Geography and Environmental Science at UW-La Crosse from 1965 - 2008. In memory of George N. Huppert, colleague and department member: 1979-2001.
| Name | Location Found |
| Iron Ore - Specular Hematite | Marquette, Mich. |
| Galena Crystals | Breckenridge, Colo. |
| Micaceous Hematite | Marquette, Mich. |
| Mica - Muscovite Variety | Custer, S.D. - Dorothy Mine |
| Chalcedony (Fluorescent Lime Green) | Scenic, S.D. |
| Calcite - "Bladed" Variety | Donnellson, Iowa |
| Matrix with Garnets | Yankee Jim Canyon, Mont. |
| Quartz and Hematite Crystals on Hematite | Hibbing, Minn. area |
| Cuproadamite Crystals | Mapimi, Mexico |
| Plattnerite, Rosasite, Aurichalcite, Descloite | Mapimi, Mexico |
| Aurichalcite | Mapimi, Mexico |
| Malachite | Zacatecas, Mexico |
| Covellite | Butte, Mont. |
| Beryl | Oxford Co., Maine - Little Orcgard Mine |
| Brochantite | Coconino Co., Ariz. |
| Conichalcite | Zacatecas, Mexico |
| Serpentine - Antigorite (Platy) Variety | Rudolph, Wisc. |
| Fluorite | Rosiclaire, Ill. |
| Celestite | Ohio |
| Vivianite Spodumene | Kings Mt., N.C. - Foote Mine |
| Lavender Calcite Crystal | Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada |
Geography and Environmental Science Collection
Items listed below were collected by members of the Geography and Earth Science department since the inception of the program.
Lucius C. Colman Mineral Collection
Presented to the La Crosse State Normal School in 1914. The collection consists of 1101 specimens of about 350 varieties from over 50 countries. Original numbering, names, and formulas are retained though the specimens are regrouped in contemporary chemical classes. Mr. Colman continued the lumber business started by his father in 1866.
| Number | Name | Location Found |
| 228 | Rock Crystal Quartz Geode | Keokuk, Iowa |
| 231 | Amethyst cap on Smoky Quartz | Little Pipestone Creek, Mont. |
| 232 | Rock Crystal Quartz | Hot Springs, Ark. |
| 233 | Rock Crystal Quartz | La Cachette, Valence, France |
| 235 | Radiated Rock Crystal Quartz | Yellowstone Park, Wyo. |
| 238 | Cavernous Rock Crystal Quartz | Paorette, Italy |
| 239 | Milky Divergent Quartz | Nova Scotia |
| 240 | Rock Crystal Quartz | Bernfjord, Iceland |
| 242 | Rock Crystal Quartz | Brazil |
| 243 | Rock Crystal Quartz | Otisville, N.Y. |
| 248 | Amethyst Quartz with Pectolite | Paterson, N.J. |
| 250 | Amethyst Quartz with Calcite | Guanajuato, Mexico |
| 252 | Smoky Quartz | Pikes Peak, Colo. |
| 254 | Smoky Quartz with Orthoclose | Pikes Peak, Colo. |
| 255 | Smoky Quartz | Switzerland |
| 256 | Rose Quartz | Custer Co., South Dakota |
| 257 | Rose Quartz | Paris, Maine |
| 259 | Milky Quartz | Delaware Co., Penn. |
| 262 | Amethystine Quartz | Chester Co., Penn. |
| 265 | Quartz Colored with Nickel | Mineral Hill, Penn. |
| 266 | Quartz Colored by Nickel | Mineral Hill, Penn. |
| 267 | Quartz with Iridescent Pyrite | Pitkaranta, Finland |
| 270 | Quartz enclosing Rutile | Madagascar |
| 272 | Quartz enclosing Tourmaline | Haddan Neck, Conn. |
| 273 | Quartz enclosing Hematite | Brazil |
| 274 | Quartz enclosing Actinolite | Switzerland |
| 276 | Quartz enclosing Byssolite | Rauris, Switzerland |
| 278 | Quartz enclosing Chlorite | Hot Springs, Ark. |
| 282 | Quartz with Calcite | Guanajuato, Mexico |
| 286 | Quartz with Calcite | St. Just, Cornwall, England |
| 290 | Chalcedony Quartz | Uruguay |
| 291 | Chalcedony Quartz | Lower California |
| 294 | Agate Quartz | Brazil |
| 295 | Agate Quartz | La Crosse Co., Wisc. |
| 296 | Chalcedony Quartz | Pikes Peak, Colo. |
| 297 | Agate Quartz, Artificial Color | Brazil |
| 298 | Agate Quartz, Artificial Color | Brazil |
| 300 | Agate Quartz | Grant Co., Colo. |
| 301 | Onyx Quartz | Uruguay |
| 302 | Agate Quartz, Artificial Color | |
| 303 | Agate Quartz, Artificial Color | |
| 304 | Agate Quartz, dendritis | Laramie Co., Wyo. |
| 305 | Bloodstane Quartz | India |
| 306 | Chrysoprase Quartz | Kosemutz, Silesia, Germany |
| 307 | Chryoprase Quartz | Pala, Calif. |
| 308 | Chrysoprase Quartz | Gila Co., Ariz. |
| 309 | Aventurine Quartz | Silesia, Germany |
| 310 | Striped Jasper Quartz | Michigan |
| 311 | Jasper Quartz | Germany |
| 312 | Jasper Quartz | Russia |
| 313 | Jasper Quartz | Scotland |
| 314 | Jasper Quartz coated with Chalcedony | Chalcedony Park, Ariz. |
| 316 | Beekite Quartz | Tampa Bay, Fla. |
| 317 | Jasper Quartz | Puyde Dome, France |
| 318 | Flint Quartz | Dover Cliffs, England |
| 319 | Chert Quartz | La Crosse Co., Wisc. |
| 321 | Novaculyte Quartz | Ohio |
| 322 | Buhrstone Quartz | North Carolina |
| 323 | Basanite Quartz | Northhampton Co., Penn. |
| 324 | Breccia Quartz | Brewster Co., Tex. |
| 325 | Pseudomorph Quartz | Boonville, N.Y. |
| 326 | Pseudomorph Quartz after Pectolite | Paterson, N.J. |
| 327 | Pseudomorph Quartz, after Wood | Chalcedony Park, Ariz. |
| 329 | Quartz penetrating Wood | Southern Ural Mountains, Russia |
| 330 | Pseudomorph Quartz after Wood | Chalcedony Park, Ariz. |
| 331 | Pseudomorph Quartz after Croiedolite - Tiger-Eye | Griquland, South Africa |
| 332 | Pseudomorph Quartz after Fluorite | Trazytan, Transylvania |
| 333 | Pseudomorph Quartz after Calcite | Socorro, New Mexico |
| 334 | Pseudomorph Quartz after Natrolite | Paterson, N.J. |
