A number of opportunities exist for students to engage in mentored student research (MSR) with faculty in the Geology Department. Projects are designed to solve original research questions and typically include most aspects of scientific research, i.e., project planning, hypothesis development and testing, data collection & analysis, problem solving, writing, and presentation. Mentored student research projects provide students with the opportunity to develop as professionals, build their resumes for employment and graduate school, get to know & be mentored by a faculty member, and contribute to the advancement of scientific knowledge.
Past projects have included:
- Modeling of springs in the Island Park area
- Mapping of lava flows in Island Park
- Using advanced software to model subsurface geologic structures
- Using earthquake data from central Idaho to locate new faults
- Using the stream table in the department to investigate factors that control development of fluvial systems
- Participating in the Imperial Barrel Award competition, which is a semester long project that provides true work-level experiences in the petroleum industry.
Contact a member of the Geology Faculty for more information.