Guatemala GeoHazards IRES Program
The Guatemala GeoHazards program is an internship opportunity for undergraduates that features one-on-one faculty-student mentoring of research both in the field in Guatemala and in the lab at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. The program is funded by the NSF International Research Experiences for Students (IRES) program.
General Structure
Each year of this three-year program, a cohort of 6-7 U.S. and 3 Guatemalan undergraduate students will conduct field research for 3.5 weeks in January in Guatemala. Students will work in topical research teams (volcanology, paleoseismology, and surficial processes) that will be co-mentored by faculty from the U.S. and our partner universities in Guatemala. Samples will be sent for geochemical, petrographic, geochronological, and other analyses when we return from the field. Then in the middle of May of the same year, U.S. and Guatemalan students and mentors will reconvene for 2 weeks of collaborative lab work and data analyses at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and via a virtual online platform. This will culminate in students preparing abstracts and presenting their research at the Guatemala GeoHazards poster symposium that will be held online.
Key Elements
The Guatemala Geohazards IRES will recruit sophomore and junior undergraduate students who are majoring in a geoscience field. Although all under-represented minority students will be considered, we will particularly target women, veterans, first-generation college, and Latinx students.
Throughout this program, we will emphasize three key goals: 1) developing a learning environment that promotes undergraduate students’ taking ownership of their own research, 2) promoting an inclusive and diverse educational culture, and, 3) modeling international cooperation and training in a globalized workforce.
Eligibility:
To be eligible for the Guatemala GeoHazards IRES, you must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident of the U.S. and enrolled as an undergraduate student at an institution of higher education in the United States throughout the duration of your participation in the Guatemala GeoHazards IRES program. Prior to starting the Guatemala GeoHazards IRES, you must have completed at least one introductory geoscience course plus at least one additional geology courses such as mineralogy, petrology, volcanology, structural geology, sedimentology, stratigraphy, and field methods (or similar courses).
Students must be enrolled as an undergraduate in Spring and Summer 2023 to be eligible. Undergraduate students supported with NSF funds must be citizens or permanent residents of the United States or its possessions.
Students should be aware that fieldwork in Guatemala in January, while being a most fulfilling and invigorating experience, is physically demanding and can at times bring with it discomfort due to either cold and/or wet weather or very hot temperatures. We will, at times, be navigating to rugged and sometimes expansive terrain on foot, far from modern conveniences. We encourage application from students who are generally comfortable in the outdoors and expect they would enjoy the challenges of this kind of environment. Furthermore, some Spanish language training is desirable although not required.
Please visit https://info.umkc.edu/GuatemalaGeoHazards/?page_id=14 for more information about the online application.
Online application deadline is Friday, September 23, 2022. To apply, please fill out the online application.