UT Jackson School of Geosciences Enhances Research Ties with Mexico
February 20, 2015
A new agreement between The University of Texas at Austin and the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) will strengthen collaboration between UT’s Jackson School of Geosciences and its counterparts at UNAM in the fields of energy, environment and sustainability.
The agreement focuses on academic research in the earth sciences and engineering. It highlights the importance of Mexico to the Jackson School Department of Geological Sciences and the school’s two research units – the Bureau of Economic Geology (BEG) and the Institute for Geophysics (UTIG). The new partnership will enhance the mutual academic opportunities created by Mexico’s recent energy reform. It is one of the three new agreements recently signed in Mexico City by UT Austin Provost Gregory L. Fenves that focus on student exchanges and collaborative research between UT Austin and UNAM.
“The UT-UNAM agreements offer a tremendous opportunity to develop science, technology and innovation together in strategic topics, so that the already strong partnership between Texas and Mexico can evolve to greater heights,” said Sergio M. Alcocer, Mexican undersecretary for North America in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The new partnership will promote the mobility of postgraduate students, researchers and faculty between the institutions. It will also help facilitate conferences, symposia, and joint academic programs and scientific research projects to identify and meet sustainable energy challenges.
A group of researchers from the Jackson School’s Institute for Geophysics (UTIG) led by director Terry Quinn visited Mexico City last week and met with Mexican scientists from academia, the private sector and public institutions to discuss areas of shared interests such as the deep-water Gulf of Mexico. Quinn hopes that this new agreement will help facilitate joint projects in the future with academic and scientific institutions such as UNAM’s Institute of Geophysics and UT’s Institute for Geophysics.
“The goal of enhancing collaboration between research scientists at UTIG and our Mexican colleagues in academia, industry and government was advanced via this first round of face-to-face meetings in Mexico City,” Quinn said.
Jackson School’s BEG has a long history of research in Mexico that could be enhanced by the partnership.
UNAM is the oldest university in North America and the largest in Latin America, with six campuses across Mexico City and many schools across the country. Of the scientific articles published by Mexican scholars in 2014, 30 percent of them were authored by UNAM researchers.
The agreement supports the mission of the U.S.-Mexico Bilateral Forum on Higher Education, Innovation and Research. The forum’s objectives include expanding opportunities for educational exchanges, scientific research partnerships, and cross-border innovation through efforts such as the Fulbright-Garcia Robles program, the U.S. 100,000 Strong in the Americas initiative and Mexico’s Proyecta 100,000 program.
The UT Austin–UNAM relationship also aims to increase the number of students studying science, technology, engineering and mathematics to meet the critical need for engineers and geoscientists created by Mexico’s recently enacted energy reform. According to a 2014 study by the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness, careers in earth sciences are in the bottom 10 fields chosen by undergraduate students in Mexico.
For more information contact: Jorge Pinon, director of the UT Jackson School of Geosciences Latin America and Caribbean Energy Program, 512-232-4988; Anton Caputo, UT Jackson School of Geosciences communications director, 512-232-9623.