Fulbright Scholarship in Bolivia 2025-2026
In March of 2025 I began the first phase of a Fulbright Scholarship in Bolivia. The Fulbright is a collaborative effort with the Bolivia’s primary research university, The Universidad Mayor de San Andrés (UMSA), in the city of La Paz, Bolivia. The collaboration combines both investigative research and education, with the goal of increasing research opportunities for Earth Science students in both Bolivia and the United States.
Phase 1: La Paz, Bolivia 2025
Phase one involved me (and my family) traveling to La Paz, Bolivia for nearly a four month period from March to July in 2025. During this time I worked closely with colleagues and students at UMSA, where I taught classes, gave academic presentations, and helped expand research opportunities for UMSA and LCC students. Some of the highlights are described in the clickable sections below. As always, please feel free to contact me if you would like to get involved!
RESEARCH
EDUCATION
FAMILY LIFE
Phase 1.5: Prep and analytical at LCC
I brought numerous samples of igneous rocks from Bolivia back to LCC. Our first batch of volcanic samples were analyzed for major and trace elements at the Peter Hooper GeoAnalytical Lab at Washington State University in Pullman. Funding for this analysis is made possible due a Faculty grant at LCC in addition to Fulbright funds. At LCC, students are in the process of analyzing samples of volcanic air fall (see Research section above) in order to figure out their volcanic sources. Students are 1) using stereo microscopes to separate the individual components of the ash, and 2) using LCC’s scanning electron microsope (SEM) to analyze the volcanic glass for its elemental makeup. These data will help us correlate the ash beds with the volcano that erupted them.
Phase 2.0: Return to Bolivia 2026
The second phase of the Fulbright Scholarship in Bolivia will take place over a 3 month period in 2026.