A UH geosciences professor will present a fun side of science at ‘Extreme Geophysics: From Exploring Maya Ruins to an Arctic Mars Colony’ on Wednesday at the George R. Brown Convention Center.
The exhibition, sponsored by the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG), was created to give Houston-area high school students hands-on experience with cutting-edge equipment. Students from more than 200 schools will attend.
‘We want to show that science is fun and interesting and not nerdy,’ geosciences professor Robert Stewart, who is hosting the event, said.
Stewart has a background in space exploration and archaeology, and was selected to be a part of the Canadian Space Agency.
In work for NASA, Stewart tested spacesuits at an Arctic base to gauge how well astronauts would be able to collect extraterrestrial material in challenging conditions. Stewart’s enthusiasm for the profession and dynamic speaking should make him a hit with students said Lisa Buckner, an SEG volunteer organizer.
‘I think the students will be really interested in hearing about all the different ways geophysics has been applied by just one person, and Stewart isn’t done yet,’ Buckner, a UH geophysics alum and a seismic data team leader for the Hess Corporation, said.
Stewart is a Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen Distinguished Professor of exploration geophysics, and is director of UH’s Allied Geophysical Laboratory. His work involves using advanced seismic imaging methods to locate new oil and gas deposits deep beneath the Earth’s surface – research vital to deep-sea exploration.
Stewart received a doctorate in geophysics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and was a professor at the University of Calgary before joining UH in 2008.