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Antarctica got a rare treat on December 4—a total solar eclipse. The last time that happened was 2003, and we’ll be waiting until 2039 for the next one. This wasn’t just an opportunity for lucky viewers, though. An eclipse near the pole is also an exciting opportunity for science.

Thanks to the generous support of the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Geo-Launchpad program will continue to serve community college students through 2024!

UNAVCO recently wrapped up a two-year project upgrading and installing geodetic stations to better serve the ShakeAlert Earthquake Early Warning System, but the work contributing to ShakeAlert is far from over. As a result of a new interagency agreement with the National Science Foundation and the United States Geological Survey, UNAVCO will build and operate the new geodetic data architecture of ShakeAlert.

The ShakeAlert earthquake early warning system is much more than the alert message on your phone. Detecting earthquakes, characterizing them, and determining the appropriate warning area takes a tremendous amount of infrastructure. With the completion of a recent Cooperative Agreement with the USGS, UNAVCO has improved West Coast geodetic infrastructure so it can be fully integrated into ShakeAlert.

On August 14, a devastating magnitude 7.2 earthquake hit Nippes, Haiti, causing thousands of deaths and widespread damage to homes, churches, schools, and other infrastructure. In the midst of this humanitarian crisis, geoscientists are working to understand exactly what happened on the fault (or faults) responsible—which is critical to understanding future risk.

This is one post in a series on the Alaska Amphibious Community Seismic Experiment blog following a field campaign in response to the magnitude 8.2 Chignik earthquake. (You can find the UNAVCO event response page for this earthquake here.) We are reprinting posts contributed by UNAVCO staff here but you can follow along on the blog to read the rest. This post comes from UNAVCO Project Manager Ken Austin.

This summer we’re introducing interns in the RESESS, Geo-Launchpad, and USIP programs to shine a spotlight on the projects they are completing throughout these 11-week internships and on their interests in geoscience. Lucia Bellino is a recent graduate of Rutgers University, earning a B.S in Geology, specifically Planetary Science. Before finishing school, she was involved … Continued

Courtenay Duzet is a geoscience master’s student at the University of Montana. Although she had enjoyed geology and collecting rocks since she was a kid, Courtenay feared that there were no viable career options in the field. She entered her bachelor’s degree at Portland State University as a pharmacy major, but disliked the chemistry courses she needed to take for the program. This led Courtenay to switch majors to physics—specifically astrophysics. She transferred to Oregon State University and took a number of classes on volcanoes, ultimately causing her to change her major again to environmental science with a focus in geology.

Jordan Mazur is a recent graduate of Skidmore College, where she studied math and computer science. This September, she will be joining the Los Alamos National Laboratory as a post baccalaureate student. An Earth science field study program sparked Jordan’s interest in geology because there are so many mathematical and programming applications of Earth science. Jordan has loved math since preschool, so when she entered Skidmore College as a first-year student, she knew that she wanted to study math. She initially resisted studying computer science, but was required to take an introductory course for her math major.

Cassie Hanagan is a PhD student at the University of Arizona, where she is studying geophysics. Cassie has always been an outdoors enthusiast and appreciated the environments that she grew up in. Before entering her undergraduate program in her hometown at Pennsylvania State University, she discovered the field of geoscience through a Google search for outdoor careers. With a great Earth and Mineral Science department at Penn State, Cassie decided that geoscience was for her and earned her bachelor’s degree. She also had always enjoyed problem-solving and math, and was particularly interested in active tectonic processes.

Nathaniel (Nat) Quinn recently graduated with a master’s degree in Data Analysis and Visualization from the Pratt Institute. For his master’s program, his capstone project examined the Clean Water Rule of the Clean Water Act and the changes that had occurred under the Trump Administration. Nat created a series of maps depicting the exact streams that were impacted by a repeal of the Clean Water Rule in 2019, which has since been reinstated. At Colorado College, Nat obtained his bachelor’s degree in environmental science and studio art. His internship this summer with OpenTopography through UNAVCO combines his interests in urban and ecological planning with mapping and landscape rendering.

Levi Exner is interning this summer at UNAVCO as a software engineer. Levi entered Colorado State University as a statistics major and was required to take an introductory computer science course. After enjoying the class, Levi decided to switch his major to computer science. He was eager to obtain more computer science experience, especially in a professional setting, and wanted the chance to practice data visualization. Levi found the introductory geology course he took interesting and with his grandfather in the USGS, Levi understood the importance of supporting geological research.