IRIS Undergraduate Summer Internship Program Kicks Off with Orientation at New Mexico Tech

The 2008 IRIS undergraduate internship class kicked off their summer experiences by participating in a week-long orientation, May 25-31, 2008. This program, held on the campus of New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (NMT) and the IRIS PASSCAL Instrument Center in Socorro, is designed to provide students with an introduction to some of the most exciting aspects of modern seismology and to foster a strong sense of community prior to sending them to their internship site to conduct their summer research. The intensive week featured introductions and activities using a variety of software applications commonly used in seismological research, such as Unix, Matlab, GMT, and ProMax; field trips to local sites of geologic interest; and lectures on selected topics, as well as fun outings in the Socorro area. 

Both local and visiting seismologists conducted the orientation with local support provided by the NMT Earth and Environmental Science Department. This year’s orientation program agenda and laboratory activities (select the ‘Undergraduate’ category in the Audiences menu) can be downloaded from our web site.

This summer, 10 undergraduate students from 10 different universities are participating in the Internship Program. With majors ranging from geophysics and geology to math and physics, students are matched to seismology research projects with university researchers from the IRIS Consortium. Students then spend the summer immersed in their research project, whether it is out in the field or processing seismic data in the lab. At the conclusion of the summer, students prepare and submit abstracts of their work to a major scientific meeting for presentation later in the year.

To learn more about the IRIS Undergraduate Internship Program, to see a list of the 2008 students and their projects, or to read the blogs of their experiences thus far, please visit the internship website.