Student-Faculty Research

Earth and Planetary Sciences students at Western have unique opportunities to do research projects in collaboration with WCSU faculty. Research projects can lead to senior theses, presentations and publications.

Among the opportunities available is travel to the National Undergraduate Research Observatory (NURO), near Flagstaff, Arizona. NURO, a consortium of universities of which Western is a charter member, operates the 31-inch telescope on Anderson Mesa jointly with Lowell Observatory. Northern Arizona is also the location of areas of geological interest, including Meteor Crater, the Grand Canyon and the San Francisco volcanic field with its cinder cones, stratovolcanoes and lava flows.

Students can present the results of research projects at conferences such as the National Conferences on Undergraduate Research (NCUR), held each spring at different host institutions and attended by more than 2,000 students and faculty advisors. Attending the NCUR conferences gives students opportunities to discuss their projects with people from other institutions and to have research papers published in the refereed Conference Proceedings. Another venue for the presentation of faculty-advised student researches is the annual WestConn Research Day event.

Click here to view a list of recent student presentations and publications.