From 10 a.m.-noon, geosciences professor Kasper VanWijk and several graduate and undergraduate students will be on hand on the patio of Boise State’s Environmental Research Building to explain how a newly built seismometer that utilizes a blue and orange bowling ball measures vibrations both above and below ground. The team then will set up near the south end zone during the game to record seismic waves generated by the crowd.

During past measurements, interceptions proved to draw the most earth-shaking reactions from the crowd, surpassing even touchdowns.

"The football game provides us a tremendous outreach opportunity to show what we’re doing at Boise State and create excitement for geosciences," VanWijk said. "The seismometers are fun, like toys, but they also are precise instruments that pick up earthquakes from around the world."

Boise State faculty and students have been building seismometers for about five years. Through the Bronco Stadium experiments, students learn to use instruments in field research and collect subsurface information relevant to detailed mapping of earthquake hazards. Members of the university’s Geophysics Club and Boise State Football Seismology Team have presented data collected at Bronco Stadium at academic conferences.