The UTEP/SSRL "Gateway Program"

Synchrotron-Based Studies in the Environmental, Geological, Materials and Life Sciences: Enhancing Interdisciplinary Graduate Research, Education, and Training at UTEP

Russell. R. Chianelli, Nicholas Pingitore, George Meitzner, and Jorge Gardea-Torresdey, University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP)
and
Arthur Bienenstock, John Pople and Apurva Mehta, Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, SLAC, Stanford University

Synchrotron-based research represents the cutting edge of many scientific sub-disciplines and interdisciplinary areas. In 1999 a program was initiated with the support and assistance of Iran Thomas to bring training in synchrotron research to students and faculty on the United States/Mexican border. This program involves scientific collaborators at SSRL/Stanford and UTEP. The population represented in this program is largely Hispanic and is rapidly growing. The objective of the program is to bring members of this group in to the mainstream of synchrotron research. In this session we report progress in training students from the United States/Mexican border. The session will also "showcase" students now entering the world of synchrotron research and the first-class research that they are performing in areas of materials and environmental science and engineering geology and the life sciences.

Gateway Students, L. Polette, C. Gutierrez Wing and N. Ugarte (University of Texas), working on a powder diffraction experiment on BL2-1.