7Mar20 - Preparation

Yesterday we met for the last time until after Spring Break. Over the last several weeks we have met every Friday or Tuesday evening depending on availability. So far, Dr. Levin has provided us with a great deal of reading materials on volcanoes and earthquakes. In the near future, members of our project belonging to the University of Costa Rica will be traveling to the US to meet us. We're also looking forward to a briefing on research ethics from Dr. Keaton sometime in April.

My greatest takeaways on our preparatory discussion topics have been: a great deal of what we understand about seismology and vulcanology is fairly speculative; plate tectonics are unique to Earth; and there are an abundance of government resources on earthquakes available to the public.

Currently there is some fear of the possibility of summer travel due to the COVID-19 "Novel Coronavirus". By May we expect to have to make a call about whether or not we can pursue this. If not, my summer plans will likely include finding a different avenue for physics and/or engineering work. It would frankly be devastating to me if this research were to be cancelled.

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