Transcript Document

Remote Sensing for Hazard Mitigation and Resource
Protection in Pacific Latin America
Overview: This is a 5-year, $2.3 million project supported by NSF, which focuses
on developing remote sensing tools and validation methods for hazard
mitigation and resource protection in Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua and
Ecuador. We are working towards two important goals:
(1) to develop formal linkages among MTU and geoscience agencies in Pacific
Latin America, focusing on the collaborative development of remote sensing
tools for hazard mitigation and water resource development;
(2) to build a new educational system of applied research and engineering, using
two existing educational programs at MTU: the Peace Corp/Master’s
International program in Natural Hazards which features a 2-year field
assignment, and an undergraduate “Enterprise” program, which gives teams
of civil, environmental, and geological engineering students the opportunity
to work on real-world problems over multiple years in a business-like setting.
Aqua Terra
Tech
Enterprise
Peace Corps
Master’s
International
program in Natural
Hazards
Remote Sensing for
Hazard Mitigation and
Resource Protection in
Pacific Latin America
Remote Sensing
Minor program with
the Remote Sensing
Institute
Ph.D. and
Master’s
programs in
Geosciences
Remote Sensing for Hazard Mitigation and Resource Protection in
Pacific Latin America
Project Personnel
Gregg Bluth: Project Director, hazard mitigation, remote sensing
John Gierke: Hydrogeological engineering, water resources, geophysical studies
Essa Gross: Wastewater treatment, hydrogeological engineering
Bill Rose: volcanology, remote sensing, hazard mitigation
For more project information, please see: http://www.geo.mtu.edu/rs4hazards/
Aqua Terra Tech: an MTU
Enterprise program in Boaco,
Nicaragua
Program Contact:
John Gierke
[email protected]
MTU created the Enterprise Program to allow
students a unique curriculum path for
developing and practicing technical and
business skills in a multidisciplinary setting
where an emphasis is placed on projects and
business.
The Boaco project focuses on water treatment,
water supply engineering, watershed resource
protection, and development of new sources of
clean water. The project uses a combination of
ground-based geophysical exploration, satellitebased GPS and land cover analysis, and field
engineering.
For more information, please see:
http://www.enterprise.mtu.edu/att/Home.html
Peace Corp’s Master’s International Program in Natural
Hazards
Ellen Engberg
Ecuador
A new degree
program within
the Department
of Geological
Engineering
and Sciences
York Lewis
El Salvador
Essa Gross
Nicaragua
Armeda
VanDam
El Salvador
Program
Contact:
Bill Rose
John Lyons
Guatemala
[email protected]
Kristi Weston
Ecuador
This new Peace Corps program is the only one of it’s kind in the nation! It features a long-term field assignment in
Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, or Nicaragua as both a Peace Corps Volunteer and a Master’s candidate in
Natural Hazard Mitigation. Students spend one year in residence at MTU, then two years in the field, returning to
MTU to complete their Master’s. This program places highly trained students in key areas in these countries to
become the “experts on the ground”, crucial components in developing practical remote sensing applications.
For more information, please see: http://www.geohazards.mtu.edu/
Peace Corp’s MI in Natural Hazards,
Class of 2005-2006
Adam Blankenbicker
University of Rhode Island
Marine-related hazards
Joanne Scott
Old Dominion University
Volcanic hazards
Jemile Erdem
Lewis & Clark College
Seismic hazards
Ingrid Fedde
Colorado School of Mines
Volcanic hazards
Hans Lechner
Humboldt State University
Landslide and slope hazards
Karinne Knutsen
UC Santa Barbara
Natural hazards
Remote Sensing Minor:
sponsored by MTU’s
Remote Sensing Institute
Program contact:
Gregg Bluth
[email protected]
The Remote Sensing Minor program
builds upon basic theory, and
applications, of remote sensing
followed by opportunities to specialize
in Data and Signal Processing, Data
Management, Applications and
Special Research Projects. A new
aspect of the minor program involves
more focused training, specifically in
support of the natural science
agencies and observatories of
Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala and
Nicaragua. This training culminates in
field study in one of these countries, in
order to help develop and apply
practical applications of remote
sensing.
For more information, please see:
http://www.rsi.mtu.edu/
Graduate Programs in the Department of Geological Engineering
and Sciences
Department Chair:
Wayne Pennington
[email protected]
This project supports 3
Ph.D. and 5-10 Master’s
positions each year for
travel and study in
Ecuador, El Salvador,
Guatemala and
Nicaragua. These
positions are within the
main graduate degree
programs of Geology,
Geological Engineering,
and Geophysics. Project
specialty areas include:
GIS, Remote Sensing,
Applied Geophysics,
Hydrogeological
Engineering, Hazard
Mitigation, Volcanology
and Seismology.
For more information, please see: http://www.geo.mtu.edu