欧博体育官网的本科生参观了火山口湖和太平洋西北部的其他地方，这是由地球和矿物科学学院高级本科生学习和体验中心(CAUSE)赞助的一个为期三个学期的研究课程的一部分。.
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Christine Tamburri stood in the shadow of Mount St. 海伦斯和他的妻子调查了火山毁灭性喷发37年后留下的伤疤.
这位欧博体育官网地球科学专业的学生在陡峭的火山灰和岩石山丘之间徒步旅行，这些火山喷出并落在周围的景观上. But something else stood out among the ruin.
“你可以看到小野花从岩石上拔地而起，开始绽放，”她说. “I thought, it’s only been 37 years, but things have come back. Things are surviving.”
这次旅行是由地球与矿物科学学院高级本科生学习与体验中心(CAUSE)赞助的为期三个学期的研究课程的亮点之一。.
这些小野花激发了坦布里研究火山爆发等灾难性事件后生命是如何恢复的. 一种入侵花卉在受火山喷发破坏最严重的地区占主导地位，而在受影响较小的地区则没有, she found.
最近，她的作品在地球与矿物科学学院(EMS)本科展览中获得了第二名.
“I probably wouldn’t have done any research this year, 如果不是因为CAUSE，我永远也不会参加海报比赛,” she said. “It helped me get over my fear of doing research. It showed me you can build something from nothing. We watched these ideas come out of nowhere and turn into something. And they worked.”
地球与矿物科学学院的本科生穿越太平洋西北地区，学习火山背后的科学, earthquakes, tsunamis and more as part of the 2018 CAUSE course.
坦布里和其他12名欧博体育官网的学生在春季学期学习地震科学, tsunamis, volcanoes and more.
然后，他们在为期两周的五月旅行中徒步穿越俄勒冈州和加利福尼亚州. 他们的经历塑造了他们在秋季学期进行的研究项目.
“这对本科生来说是一个很好的机会，因为这是一个完整的研究项目,” said Morgan Frazier, a senior in geosciences. “You have a problem, you go see the problem, and then you come away with a way to communicate that problem to the world.”
Frazier studied crustal thickening at the Mendocino Triple Junction, where three tectonic plates meet deep beneath the Earth’s surface. It’s also the location of the San Andreas fault.
她将地下变形模型与GPS观测的地表变形进行了比较，以便更好地了解板块是如何相互作用的, which has implications for earthquakes.
The project received first place at the poster competition. 弗雷泽正在为她的毕业论文继续工作，试图计算地壳增厚率.
“CAUSE made everything a lot easier,” Frazier said. “I got my senior thesis adviser out of it. I got grad school recommendation letters out of it. 通过这些教授，我在全国其他学校都有联系. It just helped everything.”
2018年的CAUSE课程让欧博体育官网的本科生有机会在太平洋西北地区的旅行中与地球与矿物科学学院的教师和研究生进行互动.
Tanya Furman, Kevin Furlong and Maureen Feineman, professors in the Department of Geosciences, were co-instructors on the course. 他们提供指导并带领实地考察，帮助学生获得解决重要科学问题的实际经验.
“所有的研究机会对处于职业生涯早期阶段的学生来说都很重要,” Furman said. “EMS学科在科学中确实很特别，因为科学的许多基础方面仍在发展中. 各个阶段的学生都可以做研究，产生新的知识，这是令人兴奋的. It helps them see where they can make a difference.”
教师们选择把重点放在太平洋西北地区，因为该地区的构造导致了其他地质现象，这些地质现象会通过地震等灾害影响人们的生活, tsunamis and volcanoes.
弗曼说，从科学的角度来看，这个地区特别有趣——太平洋在北美地下的俯冲对理解地球的演化很重要.
“I thought it was breathtaking to see the sites,” said Tony Saunders, 约翰和威利·利昂家族能源和矿物工程系采矿工程专业大三学生. “我在那里看到的经历和网站肯定会让我终生难忘.”
桑德斯的研究项目侧重于基础设施和人口老龄化等因素如何代表俄勒冈州沿海社区的风险危害. 如果地震触发海啸警报，那里的人们将不得不迅速撤离.
“CAUSE gave me new experiences and friends,” Saunders said. “I feel like I have a team. I can go to them anytime and talk. Maureen is like a second adviser to me. And Kevin and Tanya motivate me to get the job done.”
欧博体育官网的本科生参观俄勒冈州的海啸疏散路线，这是他们为期两周的太平洋西北地区之旅的一部分.
This year, CAUSE是专门为像桑德斯和坦布里这样的学生设立的, whose academic careers began at Commonwealth Campuses. 缺乏社交网络会让这些学生更难完成高级课程, Furman said.
“到旅行结束时，每个人都很亲密，我们仍然如此，”坦布里说. “And I think that’s one of the coolest parts of CAUSE.”
Patricia Craig
Marketing and communications, Earth and Mineral Sciences
