Project 9:
On Earth, our understanding of scientific issues that significantly impact society is grounded in geologic maps, whether identifying natural hazards and resources or citing civil infrastructure and communication assets. The upcoming Artemis missions will send humans back to the moon for the first time in half a century and will their landing sites and activities will be directly influenced by high quality, timely, content rich geologic maps. This project will require the applicant to participate as a member of a multi-disciplinary team of scientists who will collectively contribute not only the creation of a geologic maps of selected regions of the lunar surface but also the documentation of mapping theory, strategy, and content.
The candidate intern will work with USGS Astrogeology Science Center personnel and a NASA selected, international team to participate in geologic mapping of the lunar surface supporting the upcoming Artemis missions. The candidate will participate in discussions of geologic map content and mapping strategies that will assist in scientific exploration of the lunar surface, helping to identify map methods and content. The candidate will also participate in the team-based preparation of geologic maps of a selected area of the south pole of the Moon. The project will leverage and emphasize geologic mapping processes, geographic information system software, and out-of-the-box approaches to creating geologic maps to support human exploration.
The project will result in contribution to a USGS published geologic map and/or techniques and methods paper as well as, depending on applicant interest, preparation and presentation of contributing material at the annual Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (or similar) through a first-authored abstract and poster presentation. The applicant will learn about the fundamentals of geologic mapping, geographic information systems, and team-based mapping and have an opportunity to contribute to the current body of knowledge on how geologic maps support off-world exploration. The applicant will learn critical thinking and community engagement skills via participation in group discussions and group preparation of geologic maps and supportive documents.