I spent the last year of SGC working with Dr. Mong-Han Huang and the Active Tectonics Lab as a research assistant for their ongoing project to measure weathering changes in the Anacostia River watershed from upstream to downstream. This group is a hard-working team of Geology Department professors, graduates, and undergraduates working on hydrology surveys, soil samples, and seismic wave surveys to track changes in the ground. I joined to learn how to model the velocity changes in seismic waves in the near surface of the Earth. Working with Dr. Huang has been a fantastic experience and I have learned so much about what the research experience is like, how to work in a team, how to ask questions and look for sources, and how to think critically about modeling data.
I met Dr. Huang after emailing him to ask about his research work. I knew he did a lot of GIS work and knew a lot about modeling earthquake aftershocks and landslides, and I am very interested in the crossover between Physics and Environmental Science, so his line of work was super intriguing to me. I cold-emailed after and asked to meet, we talked about our interests and our past research experiences, and he invited me to the ATL group meeting. From there, we worked out a project for me! If I had to give any advice for getting an opportunity like this: cold-email. Dr. Huang was probably the eighth or ninth person I had emailed and then met with. Keep reaching out! You won't know unless you try, and don't be discouraged if you get no response, or a meeting ends up going no where. At least you get to know a new person and hear about their experience.
As for the actual project I worked on, I started by simply learning the software. I learned how to pick the arrival times of seismic shock p-waves on PickWin software and then learned how to run a basic data inversion in order to model the velocity of the waves from the arrival time picking. I read papers about seismic wave forms and data collection methods. I compiled data and presented it to the group as well. Occasionally the group would do some field work! We would spend a day setting up lines of seismometers in sites like Olney, Adelphi, or College Park and send shock waves out at each, generating new lines of seismic wave data to analyze. The latter portion of my Practicum time involved using smaller-scale survey lines and testing individual rocks rather than large spans of land. That method still has a lot of refining to be done, as the first few tries were difficult to get good and accurate data.
I learned so much about field science as well as data analysis. I had done some data collection and analysis in my physics lab classes, but none on this large of a scale. I learned a lot of good MatLab skills, although I have a long way to go. I got a better picture of what physics applications work looks like rather than pure physics research. I have dealt mostly with theoretical physics in my classes and only do hands-on work in my lab classes, but seeing theory I have learned in practice outside of the physics department was very interesting and confirmed for me that a career in physics applications is what I want. Despite being in a very scienctific and lab centered environment, I learned so much about networking and communicating and public speaking! Being a part of a research group means delegating and asking questions and being able to present what you know concisely and accurately, which are all skills that are helpful across all career paths and walks of life.
This project has made me rethink my future plans a lot. Graduate school is not a top priority for me at this time, but I really do enjoy working on a team of researchers to solve a problem and perform data collection and analysis. I have a REU at Montana State University lined up for the summer where I will be doing astrophysics data analysis. I want to try lots of different kinds of undergraduate research experiences to try and narrow down a career field to go into. I now know I really enjoy waves and wave data analysis. Astrophysics is a jump in environment, but I am anticipating being able to use some of the skills I have from my geophysics research experience in this REU program.
All in all, this project has definitely shaped my possible future plans and confirmed more of what I know about myself. I would love pursue a career in a space that combines physics and the environment. As an SGC scholar, the environment has always been a priority of mine. I am eternally thankful to Dr. Mong-Han Huang and the Active Tectonics Lab for the opportunity to explore research and group work and a new field.
