On the surface it looks like an ordinary soccer pitch, but a few metres down you'll find oil drums and paint cans (clean), a one-tonne piece of chalcopyrite, metal sheets -- even defused landmines and artillery shells.

    Why? Well, the playing field doubles as a environmental and geophysical test site, says Earth and Atmospheric Science professor Tony Szeto. (The field, located west of Passy Gardens, is approved by the Ministry of Energy and Environment, and poses no threat to groundwater, says Szeto.)

    Students these days need to know how to use sophisticated instruments -- instruments that can find everything from mineral deposits to toxic wastes, says Szeto.

    The super-sensitive devices are like a "more sophisticated version of the kind treasure hunters use to find lost coins on the beach," says Earth and Atmospheric Science professor Keith Aldridge.

    "The companies making them are based in Toronto. They needed a place to test and calibrate these things. We benefit because students get to use the latest technology."

    Says Aldridge: "The beauty of this business arrangement is it has a humanitarian angle because the devices can be used to locate unexploded military ordnance, and it also fulfils a scientific need."