Start of the experience: initial feelings

Top Left to Right:

Medha Chandwani: At first, I felt lost trying to find context for the research and my role. However, everyone at OSU has been incredibly helpful in getting me up to speed with the background knowledge. It's intimidating to start working in the lab and applying new knowledge to actual research, but I'm hopeful that with their support, I'll gain confidence and skills for the future.

Tim Elnitiarta: This framed drawing of Earth hanging in UTIG is a good representation of my start to the REU: I am still building a more complete picture of everything I will do this summer, but I know that I'll be able to contribute something important with all the support and guidance at UTIG! 

Hector Cordova: This drawing contains an image of many tasks such as reading literature, picking air-ice and bed-ice interfaces in radargrams, and learning to code. These tasks contain a lot of content that I am new to, but I am very excited and came with a mindset to pick at these tasks and learn something new everyday. This is represented by me picking the ice with a geology hammer (I am a geology major). Mentors and other interns stand behind me, supporting me and ready to answer my questions.

Sara Akiba: Excited to touch some old ice!

Middle Left to Right:

Marc Sailer: At the start of the REU program, I am excited to be in Seattle for the summer now that it is finally sunny and to have this as a view on my way to work every day!

Chinonso Obiefule: I’m really missing Texas and my friends and family, but also am so excited for the great new things about to come! 

Alissa Choi: My initial thoughts for the summer are right where I left off last summer. I am building off the collaborations and work I did last summer to further my understanding of ice core science.The addition of the differently colored spotlights represents all the new skills and perspectives I’m gaining from working in a different COLDEX lab this summer as I am quite literally viewing ice core science from a new lens. It also represents my development of independence as a researcher. There’s so many different analyses that I want to do on this part of the ice core and so many different questions that I want to answer but unfortunately there is a limited amount of ice. Eventually, I (alongside my mentors and collaborators) will have to make a decision on the direction I want to take this project which can feel a bit overwhelming at times given the crowded scene.

Bottom Left to Right:

Andrea Oviatt: As a COLDEX researcher I had the opportunity to explore and experiment with a domain in climate research I’m excited to pioneer in. This drawing was the first sketch I made in my program that I altered and experimented with in and had so much fun dedicating my time to. I feel the same way about by first two weeks in COLDEX :)

Joanny Jimenez: Copán Ruinas, Western Honduras: I chose this photograph because it represents the wonderful world of exploration. It shows what can be accomplished through excavation and research which inevitably intertwines our natural surroundings with history. If it wasn’t for someone taking courageous actions to uncover the history of the Maya civilization, we would have never known that Copán was a major city during the Classic period.

Veronica Fula: Here is the nicest picture I saw of ice that came from the Allan Hills and I think it's beautiful in its own right!

Megan Erskine: Here's my photo! It's the corner of the warehouse where the USGS intern and I do most of our work. It's very cluttered with empty boxes/our cold weather gear when we're hopping in and out of the freezer, which I feel represents the chaos I felt starting my REU! It's hard to see, but on the wall, Theo stuck a "Student Technicians" sign after I joked we needed something to say it was the intern corner! To me, it represents that even though things still feel a little chaotic, I definitely feel like I have my own place and am finding my footing here at the facility.