Program Part of NSF International Research Experience for Students Grant.

Eight students—two graduate students and six undergraduate students—are currently in China as part of the U.S.-China Collaboration on Landslide Research and Student Training summer program (http://ires.nsm.uh.edu). The eight-week program began on June 13.

2017 UH China Program attendees (from left): Vasilios Tsibanos, Bob Wang, Erica Lucas, Julie Monluc, Eleanor Dietz, Lynn Nguyen, Colton Morrow, Keyin Scott, and Hannah Bonner. Five University of Houston students are participating: Eleanor Dietz, Julie Monluc, Lynn Nguyen, Keyin Scott and Vasilios Tsibanos. Other students attending the program are Erica Lucas, from University of Michigan, Hannah Bonner, from Brigham Young University, and Colton Morrow, from University of North Carolina-Wilmington.

The program, hosted by UH and China University of Geosciences, also includes Dr. Guoquan Wang from UH’s Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences and Professors Huiming Tang, Changqian Ma, and Hanwen Zhou from the China University of Geosciences.

This International Research Experience for Students is supported by a National Science Foundation grant. The current program represents the second year of the three-year project.

UH China Program students with the King Crystal in front of the China National Geological Museum in Beijing. The first week of the program took place in Houston, June 13-20, and focused on preparation for the trip to China. The students trained with LiDAR, UAV, and GPS, attended a short course in Chinese Language and Culture, and met with UH’s Study Abroad Office.

On June 21, the students flew to Beijing and spent five days there before departing for Wuhan, China.

UH China Program students with Dr. Nancy Sung (far left), director of the National Science Foundation office in Beijing. While in Beijing, they visited the U.S. Embassy, the China National Geological Museum, and a land subsidence monitoring facility affiliated with the Beijing University of Technology. At the U.S. Embassy, the students met with Dr. Nancy Sung, director of the NSF office in China, and discussed their upcoming fieldwork. The land subsidence monitoring facility prepared a thorough presentation covering land subsidence and technologies in Beijing.

The program continues with a two-week Chinese Language and Culture course at the China University of Geosciences in Wuhan, in addition to three weeks of fieldwork. One week will be spent in Zigui City, investigating the geology, tectonics and hazards in the Three Gorges area, and the final two weeks will be spent in Badong City, investigating the Huangtupo Landslide.

The team will return to Houston at the end of July for a one-week program wrap-up.