After the deadly and devastating Nepal earthquake in 2015, two University of Nevada, Reno graduate students packed their backpacks and flew to the Himalayan Front to study the seismic effects of the violent ground motion.
While in Nepal, the two College of Science geophysics students, Steve Angster and Ian Pierce, experienced the second damaging earthquake in the region; a magnitude 7.3 aftershock, allowing for a firsthand account of the effects of additional shaking.
They documented their trip, showing a whirlwind tour of Himalayan tectonics, earthquake hazards as well as the damage that this earthquake brought to the country of Nepal and what can be learned from it.
The Nevada Seismological Laboratory sent the pair to Nepal, meeting their professor Steven Wesnousky in Kathmandu, to determine whether or not this earthquake ruptured up to the surface. They went looking for fresh breaks in the ground called a “fault scarp.” They hoped to see a small hill along the fault, a portion of the fault responsible for building the Himalaya, denoting where a few meters of India slipped toward Nepal.
The team confirmed that there were no surface ruptures, which is unusual for such a large magnitude earthquake.
Angster and Pierce took photos, studied structures and searched for fault lines. They kept track of their journey with a daily blog on the College of Science website. Their blog: http://www.unr.edu/science/himalayan-quake-research (editor note: their blog is very interesting, very much like a National Geographic report and with very good pictures along the way).
CONTESTS:
NAA 2017 Student Presentation Competition (to the Ely 46th Annual Nevada Archaeology Conference)
This competition is open to both undergraduate and graduate students who present the results of their work at the annual NAA meeting on the prehistoric archaeology or historic archaeology of Nevada and, more generally, the Great Basin. Although collaborative efforts are welcome, students must be the primary author and/or presenter on papers and posters to qualify for the prizes. Three prizes will be awarded: (1) $150 to the best student paper (2) $150 to the best student poster, and (3) a $50 door prize awarded by random drawing to a student that presents a poster or paper at the meeting, (this will probably be due Friday, April 7, 2017 as for 2016 the due date was April 8th).
NAA 2017 Student Research Grant Competition (to the Ely 46th Annual Nevada Archaeology Conference)
This competition provides funding for student research – either graduate or undergraduate – that pertains to the archaeology of the Great Basin or American Southwest and has implications for the prehistory or history of Nevada. This year the NAA will again make TWO grant awards, one for prehistoric study and one for historic study! The amount of each grant will be $1,500! In each case, the awardee will be provided 70% of the grant at the time of the award (the annual meeting), 20% upon receipt of a progress report, and 10% upon completion of the project/presentation of results. A progress report will be due by December 1, 2017 and the awardee will be required to present research findings at the NAA 2018 annual meeting.
(probably Friday, April 22)
Applications should include the following:
A cover letter explaining how the individual qualifies for the award (i.e., description of student’s university and degree program).
A current vita.
A 1,000-word, single-spaced description of the proposed research, clearly documenting research questions or goals, materials, methods, and significance to archaeology in Nevada.
A list of references cited in the text (not included in the 1,000-word limit).
A one-page budget narrative.
A letter of recommendation from the student’s academic supervisor, emphasizing the student’s ability to conduct independent research.
If submitting hard copies by mail, please include two additional copies of the description of research and of the budget narrative. Contact Information: Mark Giambastiani, Vice President <mark_giambastiani@nvarch.org>
