6 Sunday, March 11, 2018 Hawaii Tribune-Herald
UNIVERSITY TOWN
From left, postdoctoral coral researcher John Burns and marine science undergraduates Jessica Taleot
and Nikola Rodriguez look at 3-D mapping of coral reefs they created. The 3-D mapping helps the marine
scientists learn about how coral reefs are adjusting and changing in the face of climate change.
Learning
through
experience
Photos: HOLLYN JOHNSON/Tribune-Herald
Preparing students to
become the leaders of
tomorrow involves learning
beyond the classroom.
At UH-Hilo, students engage
in a wide range of experiential
learning opportunities that connect
academic learning to the
real world through various activities
that include involvement
in faculty research, internships
and practical experience with
local businesses and agencies.
The following examples
are just a few ways the university
is providing career
and educational pathways
through hands-on learning.
The university’s
Senior geology student Raelyn Eckert sorts basalt
samples from the 1980s William Barrera Collection.
geoarchaeology lab is employing
modern technology to
unlock Polynesia’s past through
nondestructive, compositional
analysis of archaeological items.
Brianna Ernst, from the Chicago
area, and Raelyn Eckert, from
Olympia, Wash., are among
four students assisting Dr.
Steven Lundblad and Dr. Peter
Mills in a National Science
Foundation-funded project to
assess the source and exchange
of stone artifacts in Hawaii.
Their research employs the
lab’s Energy-dispersive X-Ray
Fluorescence spectrometer, or
EDXRF, which utilizes X-ray
photons to study the artifacts’
geochemical compositions.
Understanding their makeup
and identifying their geological
sources help researchers study
the trade patterns, voyaging
and economic relationships that
occurred between the various
island communities throughout
Polynesia. Both say the project
is a great resume builder
and learning experience.
“I have been selected to be
part of a project that correlates
fossils with ash flow deposits,”
Eckert said of her future plans
for graduate school. “Because
of my background with volcanology
and having research
experience under my belt, I
was chosen over many other
candidates for the program.”
Mills said numerous students
have had work published since
By UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII
AT HILO MEDIA RELATIONS
Anthropology professor Peter Mills and senior geology
student Brianna Ernst prepare to load a wheel of
basalt samples into the EDXRF spectrometer.
See EXPERIENCE Page 7