Author: Alex Mehta

Nini Markhvashvili is one of EarthScope’s Summer 2025 RESESS interns. She is a recent graduate of Binghamton University, graduating with a degree in Environmental Geology. She is currently studying station data to observe crustal structures in the Alaska region.

Danielle Kinkel is EarthScope’s Summer 2025 Education and Data Resources Intern, and is currently a PhD candidate in geophysics at the Nevada Seismological Laboratory at the University of Nevada-Reno. Her work focuses on exploring existing educational materials and enhancing it for educators.

Aurora Byrd is one of EarthScope’s Summer 2025 Geo-Launchpad Interns. Her project focuses on Lake Cretaceous heavy mineral beach deposits in northern New Mexico. She is currently a rising sophomore at Austin Community College.

Rebecca Merber is one of EarthScope’s Summer 2025 RESESS Interns. Her project focuses on using machine learning to locate the magma chamber of the Akutan volcano. She is currently a rising senior at Michigan State University.

James Genero is one of EarthScope’s Summer 2025 RESESS Interns, working with Dr. Kellie Wall. He’s interning at the USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory studying volcanology and geochemistry.

Erfan Horeh is a Ph.D. student in Oceanography at the University of Washington, specializing in underwater acoustics and Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS). His research focuses on using fiber-optic sensing to investigate ocean noise and marine environments. He holds both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Sharif University of Technology in Iran.

Asif Ashraf (he/him) is the Summer 2025 Cloud On-Ramp intern at EarthScope, working with Tammy Bravo and Sarah Wilson. He is currently pursuing a PhD in geophysics at the University of Oregon, where his primary research focuses on high-resolution seismic tomography imaging of the Cascadia subduction zone.

Alex Mehta is one of EarthScope’s 2025 Science Communication Interns, working with Scott Johnson and Emily Zawacki on a variety of visual media, including videos and infographics. She is currently a senior at the University of Georgia, where she is majoring in Marine Science. She is very passionate about science communication, particularly in the area of climate change.

Beck Hufstetler is one of EarthScope’s 2025 Science Communication Interns, working with Scott Johnson and Emily Zawacki. She’s working on creating videos and articles about how scientists locate materials deep underground, and why these materials are so important.

Yurong “Riley” Zhang (she/her) is EarthScope’s Summer 2025 Instrumentation Intern, working with Chris Calvelage. She is currently a PhD candidate at Michigan State University, working the seismic structure of Tonga and Pampean subduction zones and mantle wedges, with a particular emphasis on seismic attenuation, velocity tomography, and stress drop analysis. Previously, she earned her bachelor’s in geophysics from the University of Science and Technology of China.