In a science lab on the fourth floor of UTSA’s Multidisciplinary Studies Building, UTSA students engage in meticulous choreography around a glowing furnace, melting rocks to produce lava.
The task helps them survey the vast landscapes of the universe — from the Earth to the moon — in a space known as the Heat and Mass Transfer & Experimental Rheology Lab, HAMsTER for short.
Some students in the HAMsTER Lab may examine the lava flow of volcanoes on Earth, while others are melting down and testing samples of meteorites to chart varying thermal properties.
The lab, led by Alan Whittington, professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, offers students interested in petrology and planetary sciences the opportunity to apply their interests in a range of research opportunities.
WATCH: Learn more about the work being conducted in the HAMsTER Lab.
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