Undergraduate Research Initiation and Exploration

Abstract

This URSA project’s overreaching goal was to become more exposed to research while working with a graduate student as a mentor. This was accomplished by completing tasks such as data collection related to Matthew Balazs’ research on slope deformation and hazard analysis in Seward and Whittier, Alaska. Along with those tasks, I learned to write my own research proposals and became more exposed to other students’ research by attending thesis defenses. Lastly, I studied ArcGIS and then later applied it within my own small research project. This project was very important for my student career and has inspired me to pursue more undergraduate research along with helping other undergraduates find research opportunities. None of this would have been possible if it was not for the URSA Graduate Student Mentorship Award that was granted to Mathew Balazs for the summer of 2013.