Scarlette Hsia, PhD Candidate

CARBONATE SEDIMENTOLOGIST

Considering applying to graduate school in STEM? Here are some things you may not have considered March 14, 2024

It's no secret that women are underrepresented in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math). But did you know the gender of WHO you choose to advise you can also impact your chances of success after graduate school? 

Check out this study and form your own opinions. 

Gender differences in recommendation letters for postdoctoral fellowships in geoscience, Nature Geoscience (2016) 

A plain-language post on Science about the journal article is linked here

Jackson School Graduates: Where are They Now? Where Could You Go? July 6, 2023

If you are pursuing a degree in geoscience, where would you like to go after? Many students at the Jackson School of Geosciences (JSG) begin their studies under the impression that they are going into either academia or industry, but the job market is not so binary. Most students, at one point or another, consider different career paths from what they initially expressed interest or conviction in. In this post, we compiled profiles of notable alumni who have graduated in the last few years.

So where do JSG graduates end up in the career web? 

Through the Looking Glass  May 5, 2021

Nature has a way of building formations that are both aesthetic and captivating. Spanning across different scales, dimensions, and times, we can't help but notice similarities in shape, process, and form. Although the mechanisms and drivers for formation are different for different processes, we stumble across similarities and ask ourselves why patterns and self-organizing processes exist so widely.

Microscopic

Here is an image of the benthic foraminifera, Alveolina, in cross section. This sample was taken from offshore India in the Mukta Field

Vs

Macroscopic

The Milky Way galaxy spans 100,000 light years, and contains up to 400 billion stars. Earth is just one little dot in an expansive system! 

Past

Record of past shorelines represented by deposits. 

Captured in the Turks and Caicos Islands April 2019

Vs

Present

Standing along the present shoreline facing the sunset.

 Captured in the Turks and Caicos Islands March 2021

Diversity in the Reef Feb 9, 2019

Just can't beat the diverse marine ecosystems of Cozumel, Mexico! Just off the western coastline is a plethora of aquatic flora and fauna. Can eel spotting get any easier than this? 

















Here, a free-swimming Green Moray eel follows us across the reef. Diving at around 65-85 feet, we see an abundance of hard and soft corals, sponges, algae, and the entrancing movement of the occasional legless passerby.





 







Flight Over Roatán Aug 14, 2018

What a relief it was to have made it to Roatan. Just off the coast of Honduras is a majestic island with topography that would be worthy of being featured in Jurassic Park!














Tonight, I will be stopping overnight at a backpacker's hostel and spend a layover day free-diving in nearby reefs and swimming near dolphins at the Roatan Institute for Marine Sciences.

PICTURED: These curious and playful "three amigos" swam up to me during a shore swim on the north side of the island.



















Snorkeling Between Plate Boundaries June 8, 2018

Hello from the Silfra Fissure, a rift between the North American and Eurasian Plate Boundaries. The water is a balmy 32 degrees Fahrenheit. Although my fingers feel numb to the cold, I cannot help but feel enamoured by the incredible water visibility. Surrounded by basalt columns, I feel miniscule in comparison to the large scale tectonics happening around me!







Little Cayman Island Geologic Mapping May 1, 2017

NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates: Supervisor Dr. Gilman Ouellette June 2016


Little Cayman Mapping.pptx

Longhorn Stream Team tackles the Rio Chama River - New Mexico May 2015

Longhorn Stream Team tackles the Rio Chama, Taos Box and Racecourse in New Mexico.
Five new water quality test sites were recorded along the Rio Chama in May 2015!
Song: Down the Road by C2C

Programs used: Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, GIMP, Google Earth, Movie Maker, Lightworks Pro, and GoPro Studio
Filmed on GoPro Hero 3+ and Nikon d5300
Filmed, animated and edited by Scarlette Hsia

Water Quality Sampling through Big Bend - Santa Elena Canyon Jan 16, 2015