Opportunities by Field of Study

Earthquake early warning, live in California, aims to send user alerts before ground shaking arrives at their location. Work directly with a USGS team in implementing a ground-motion based early warning algorithm, and develop novel station-specific adjustment factors to improve the accuracy of ground-shaking estimates, a critical step in sending the most useful user alerts.

Develop cutting-edge computational tools that provide 3D views of Earth’s crust using gravity and magnetic fields. Results of these efforts will have a wide range of applications from mapping natural resources to evaluating natural hazards. These tools will be applied to airborne geophysical data, especially those collected for the USGS Earth MRI effort.

Research the movement of organic carbon out of the mountains and into the stream -- the “forgotten flux” of the global carbon budget. Assess how climate extremes, including both floods and drought, will alter carbon and other nutrient cycling. Lead a scientific paper on an aspect of this research that excites you.

Where are invasive species likely to be introduced or become abundant? How should managers respond? On Hawaii and other Pacific Islands numerous invasive species have altered ecosystems, and new species continue to be introduced. Statistical analyses can characterize risk and inform response strategies.

Where are invasive species likely to be introduced or become abundant? How should managers respond? On Hawaii and other Pacific Islands numerous invasive species have altered ecosystems, and new species continue to be introduced. Statistical analyses can characterize risk and inform response strategies.

This study will contrast the extraction of DNA/RNA from aerosols collected with electrostatic precipitation (a relatively new collection method) with a common membrane filtration protocol to identify the most appropriate method for future regional and global scale aerobiology research projects.

This opportunity focuses on integration of geophysical modeling with constraints on alteration mineralogy from spectral measurements on drill core and hyperspectral remote sensing data.

Earthquakes, such as the 2011 M5.7 Prague, Oklahoma, and recent northern Texas M4 event, demonstrate the need for improved understanding of site amplification and seismic hazards in the central United States. The intern will be trained by USGS scientists to use the state-of-the-art site investigation methods at seismic station sites in California before applying the methods in Oklahoma and Texas.

The principals of conservation biology are waiting to be applied to restore native coregonines in the Great Lakes. Native fishes have suffered extinctions and extirpations owing to loss of habitat, interactions with invasive species, and overfishing, and now fishery managers are committed to their restoration.

This study will examine centennial- to millennial-scale North Pacific hydroclimate variability over the late-glacial and Holocene from Alaskan peatlands using cellulose extraction from peatland plants. Hydroclimate analysis will be coupled with vegetation and carbon dynamics to better understand how peatlands respond to long-term climate variability.

Do fisheries managers know the impacts of improving recreational fishing technology on the populations of fish they manage? The role of gear innovations in recreational fisheries is understudied as a driver of overexploitation in inland waters. Examining technology advances will inform recreational managment.

The advent of national geophysical initiatives (e.g. EarthScope, AusLamp, SinoProbe) has started the race to develop regional- and national-scale geophysical models. In parallel, the need for such models is on the rise within the natural-hazard and resource sectors. This internship focuses on development of three-dimensional electrical resistivity models derived from magnetotelluric (MT) data.