HR: 09:45h
AN: ED51A-08    [PDF]
TI: International Volcanological Field School in Kamchatka and Alaska: Experiencing Language, Culture, Environment, and Active Volcanoes
AU: * Eichelberger, J C
EM: eich@gi.alaska.edu
AF: Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK 99775 United States
AU: Gordeev, E
AF: Kamchatka Experimental and Methodological Seismological Department, Russian Academy of Science, Petropavlovsk, 683006 Russian Federation
AU: Ivanov, B
AF: Institute of Volcanic Geology and Geochemistry, Russian Academy of Science, Petropavlovsk, 683006 Russian Federation
AU: Izbekov, P
AF: Alaska Volcano Observatory, Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK 99775 United States
AU: Kasahara, M
AF: Institute of Seismology and Volcanology, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, 060-0810 Japan
AU: Melnikov, D
AF: Department of Geography, Geology, and Geophysics, Kamchatka State University of Education, Petropavlovsk, 683006 Russian Federation
AU: Selyangin, O
AF: Research Center for Geotechnology, Russian Academy of Science, Petropavlovsk, 683006 Russian Federation
AU: Vesna, Y
AF: Department of Geography, Geology, and Geophysics, Kamchatka State University of Education, Petropavlovsk, 683006 Russian Federation
AB: The Kamchatka State University of Education, University of Alaska Fairbanks, and Hokkaido University are developing an international field school focused on explosive volcanism of the North Pacific. An experimental first session was held on Mutnovsky and Gorely Volcanoes in Kamchatka during August 2003. Objectives of the school are to:(1) Acquaint students with the chemical and physical processes of explosive volcanism, through first-hand experience with some of the most spectacular volcanic features on Earth; (2) Expose students to different concepts and approaches to volcanology; (3) Expand students' ability to function in a harsh environment and to bridge barriers in language and culture; (4) Build long-lasting collaborations in research among students and in teaching and research among faculty in the North Pacific region. Both undergraduate and graduate students from Russia, the United States, and Japan participated. The school was based at a mountain hut situated between Gorely and Mutnovsky Volcanoes and accessible by all-terrain truck. Day trips were conducted to summit craters of both volcanoes, flank lava flows, fumarole fields, ignimbrite exposures, and a geothermal area and power plant. During the evenings and on days of bad weather, the school faculty conducted lectures on various topics of volcanology in either Russian or English, with translation. Although subjects were taught at the undergraduate level, lectures led to further discussion with more advanced students. Graduate students participated by describing their research activities to the undergraduates. A final session at a geophysical field station permitted demonstration of instrumentation and presentations requiring sophisticated graphics in more comfortable surroundings. Plans are underway to make this school an annual offering for academic credit in the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, Alaska and in Kamchatka. The course will be targeted at undergraduates with a strong interest in and aptitude for the physical sciences, not necessarily volcanology. It will also serve as an entry point for students wishing to make extended exchange visits to the Russian Far East or Alaska, and to graduate students in volcanology wishing to undertake thesis research in North Pacific volcanism. The school represents the first educational effort of the newly established Japan Kamchatka Alaska Subduction Project (JKASP), which seeks to bring scientists of our three nations together in the study of one shared geophysical province, the Kuril-Kamchatka-Aleutian Arcs.
DE: 6605 Education
DE: 8414 Eruption mechanisms
DE: 8494 Instruments and techniques
SC: Education and Human Resources [ED]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting