PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS

Opportunities for Students

The Fracture Research and Application Consortium supports students in the Department of Geological Sciences and Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering as well as occasional students having other affiliations. For more information contact a faculty or staff member from your department who is associated with FRAC. Prospective students should consult the web sites of the Department of Geological Sciences and Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering.

Graduate and undergraduate students are at the heart of the Jackson School of Geosciences and have been a very important element of the Bureau for nearly 30 years. Students work under the title of Graduate Research Assistants or GRA's, and are an essential part of many research projects at the Bureau. Bureau researchers are engaged with working with graduate students in a variety of ways: through the School's Graduate Studies Committees--which enables them to be the primary supervisor of graduate students--including Bureau Director Scott Tinker, who is also a faculty member; co-supervising students with faculty members of the Department of Geological Sciences; serving on department graduate student committees; and adding their expertise to the Department's curriculum through the co-teaching of classes.

The interplay of experienced researchers with these scientists-in-training is stimulating and productive, enabling students to gain experience that is not commonly part of a graduate school program. They bring skills and experiences that augment the technical capability of our research teams as well as enthusiasm and a fresh curiosity that is energizing to our staff.

GRA's may either work on a project that is distinct from their thesis or dissertation, thus broadening their graduate school experience, or their thesis or dissertation may be intimately related to a particular project. Many graduates tell us that the experience they gained at the Bureau not only helped them get their first job after leaving UT, but the research assistantship taught them many skills that made the transition to the workplace an easy one.

FRAC Student Research Opportunities

Support is available for student thesis projects in the Department of Geological Sciences and Department of Petroleum & Geosystems Engineering. Projects cover a wide range of issues in fractured rock geology and engineering, and include modeling, laboratory and field-based studies. For more information, contact Randy Marrett, Steve Laubach, or Jon Olson. Left: recent fracture sampling expedition in the Rockies. Marrett, Gomez, and Laubach.