This summer, 32 students from colleges and universities across the country are participating in EarthScope’s four summer internship programs: RESESS, Geo-Launchpad, URISE, and the Student Career Program. The internship programs officially kicked off at the end of May with orientation weeks held in Boulder, CO and Socorro, NM.
The RESESS (Research Experience in Solid Earth Science for Students) program is devoted to increasing diversity in Earth science and provides research experience for undergraduate students, and Geo-Launchpad serves community college students in Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming and helps develop skills for careers and research. URISE (Undergraduate Research Internships in Seismology) provides research experience for undergraduate students in seismology, and the Student Career Program offers unique real-world work experience for undergraduate and graduate students.
On May 22, Student Career Program interns and half of the RESESS and Geo-Launchpad interns met for the week in Boulder, CO, including a field trip to Dinosaur Ridge led by Front Range Community College’s Andy Caldwell and some teambuilding work. RESESS and Geo-Launchpad interns are staying in Boulder for the summer while they work with mentors from the University of Colorado Boulder, University of Northern Colorado, and Colorado School of Mines. A returning RESESS intern (not pictured) is working with a mentor at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
On May 28, URISE interns and the other half of RESESS and Geo-Launchpad interns met in Socorro, NM at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology for a week of orientation activities. Students started the week by installing broadband seismic stations and touring the EarthScope Primary Instrument Center (EPIC).
Mid-week, the student interns conducted an active source seismic experiment at the Truijillo water well in Magdalena, NM to image and explore the subsurface, led by Dr. Juan Lorenzo from Louisiana State University.
The following day, Dr. Shari Kelley from the New Mexico Bureau of Geology led a hiking tour for URISE and Geo-Launchpad interns in the Magdalena Mountains, followed by a visit to the Magdalena Ridge Observatory where Dr. Eileen Ryan and Dr. Bill Ryan discussed how they use the facility’s high-powered telescope to track asteroids, comets, and satellites.
Classroom lectures and evening seminars were held throughout the week, and the week concluded with dinner and a bonfire in San Lorenzo Canyon.
After the initial week of activities, URISE students will be traveling to their host institutions to conduct research over the summer, and Socorro-based RESESS and Geo-Launchpad Students will remain at New Mexico Tech and help with research projects at the university and the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources.
Stay tuned throughout the summer as we introduce some of our interns and share more about their projects!
