Volcanology & Science Communication
During this internship, I completed training in science communication and applied those skills to effectively communicate research and information to the general public. During my training, I was on the island of Tenerife.
Halfway through my internship, I was relocated to the island of La Palma, was then able to use those skills during a wildfire on the island of La Palma by getting reliable information out on platforms to inform the residents of the island. In order to get reliable information I conducted interviews with the firefighters and people who were involved in containing the fire.
In La Palma I had the opportunity to complete a research project focused on creating a procedure to efficiently use a portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) analyzer during fieldwork. We collected data on minor elements from the Tajogaite lava flow from the 2021 eruption in La Palma, Canary Islands. We were able to conclude that the portable XRF is reliable and accurate in analyzing minor elements, which is important for the future of fieldwork as technology advances. With the pXRF, we can collect accurate data in seconds, as opposed to collecting samples, transporting them domestically or internationally, and working with a XRF machine in a lab.