Field study Field study Field study Field study

Diversity programmes in the united states

Summer Field Schools (view flyer)

About
AfricaArray provides undergraduate students with hands-on training and an international cultural experience through its innovative eight-week, annual summer field courses based at Penn State.

The inaugural field course focused on geophysics and provided physics, math, engineering and geoscience students from minority-serving institutions with exposure to geophysics field methods, modeling techniques and career opportunities.

Additional field courses with emphases on geochemistry, sedimentology/paleontology and structural geology are being planned with at least one likely to be offered in summer 2010 along with the annual Geophysics Field School.

Students who are admitted to the course receive a stipend and have all expenses paid including travel, food and lodging.

Schedule
The field courses begin at Penn State with a three-week orientation introducing students to the geology and culture of South Africa.

They then travel to South Africa for three weeks. The typical schedule includes a week-long collaboration with students at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) to design a field project followed by data collection at a field site. That week-long field experience is then followed by data analysis and interpretation at Wits.

In addition to the field and lab work, students have opportunities for cultural experiences and sightseeing while in Johannesburg.

During the final two weeks at Penn State, students complete a project report and make a formal project presentation at the annual AfricaArray Forum.

How to Apply
The course is part of the Summer Research Opportunities Programme (SROP) at Penn State, so interested students must apply at the SROP site (http://www.cic.net/Home/Students/SROP/Introduction.aspx) On the application select only Penn State as the institution of choice. Then send an e-mail to Dr. Andy Nyblade (aan2@.psu.edu) informing him that you have applied.

The SROP program is sponsored by the National Science Foundation and Penn State.