SZNet is actively building momentum across its core initiatives, including the development of the US & Chile exchange program, coordination of the interdisciplinary field trip taking place in Mount Hood, and continued support for strengthening international collaboration and expanding opportunities for researchers across the SZNet network.

International Pilot Projects

2026 Mt Hood Pilot Project

The Mt. Hood pilot field project will take place July 21–29 and will bring together a cohort of 30 participants across disciplines and career stages to investigate interacting geohazards in the Mt. Hood volcanic region.

Mt. Hood, one of the most hazardous volcanoes in the continental United States, provides a natural laboratory for interdisciplinary geohazard research. The field project will focus on the coupled roles of volcanism, landslides and debris flows, crustal faulting, and sediment dynamics, using a combination of field observations and drone-based surveys. Participants will also engage in synthesis activities, field collaboration discussions, and contribute to the development and testing of the StraboSpot mapping platform.

Learn more | 2026 Mt Hood Pilot Project

2027 Chile Pilot Project

The field trip leaders have completed a scouting trip for the Chile pilot project, which will take place in 2027. Applications to participate in the program will open this summer - stay tuned for more details.

This trip aims to investigate the geodynamic processes and surface hazards associated with the latitudinal transition from flat-slab subduction (27°–33°S) to normal subduction south of 33°S in the Southern Central Andes. Beginning in Uspallata, Argentina and continuing along the Chilean coastal region, with multiple stops along the way, the excursion will bring together U.S. and international scientists across career stages, fostering cross-disciplinary approaches to the study of subduction systems.

Learn more | 2027 Chile Pilot Project

US & Chile Exchange Program

The 2026 US & Chile Exchange is ongoing, bringing together Early Career Researchers engaged in collaborative research across partner institutions in the United States and Chile. Additional updates and highlights from participants will be shared as the cohort completes their exchanges.

Our first participant to complete the exchange recently returned from Chile. Luke Gezovich, a recent PhD graduate from the Colorado School of Mines, worked with Dr. Tania Villaseñor at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.

Luke’s research uses remote sensing techniques to study fluvial and deltaic systems on Earth and Mars, with a particular focus on fluvial environments in subduction-zone settings, including Colombia, Indonesia, and Chile, to better understand their evolution, dynamics, and associated natural hazards. You can read more about Luke’s research project and exchange experience below.

Learn more | Meet the 2026 Cohort

Looking ahead, the 2027 edition of the exchange will open for participant applications on July 1. Scientists interested in hosting an exchange participant may also register their interest through July 1. We expect to support up to six participants in the 2027 cohort.

About Luke’s research project

The Maipo River in central Chile is the primary source of freshwater for the Santiago metropolitan region and surrounding communities, supporting agriculture, industry, and nearly one-third of Chile’s population. However, long-term changes in climate and precipitation patterns, combined with a persistent megadrought since 2010, have placed increasing pressure on water resource availability in the region.

To better study the Maipo river system, I traveled to Santiago, Chile, to work with Dr. Tania Villaseñor at Universidad Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile from January-February 2026. My research project focused on quantifying, describing, and understanding both short- and long-term morphological changes in the Maipo River. To do this, we developed a random forest machine learning classifier using Google Earth Engine to map land cover along the river. We used seasonally averaged Landsat 5–9 composite imagery, generated for Austral summer, fall, winter, and spring, and classified land cover within the active river corridor into three categories: river, vegetation, and sediment. 

In parallel, we conducted a series of field campaigns along the river, spanning confined upper-basin reaches in the Andes, urbanized sections through the Santiago metropolitan area, and downstream reaches supporting agricultural communities. These field observations provided ground truth data for interpreting remote sensing results and helped link observed land cover changes to local geomorphic and human drivers. Fieldwork was also coordinated with a complementary project investigating microplastic distributions in Maipo River sediments. We conducted a 2 day-long expedition to Universidad Glacier in the basin to the South to take sediment, temperature, and water samples from the largest glacier in central Chile.

The results of our work show that the Maipo River has experienced distinct seasonal and long-term land cover changes across different segments of the river corridor. Across the system, river area has decreased significantly relative to both sediment and vegetation cover. However, some reaches show pronounced increases in either sediment or vegetation, likely reflecting spatially variable controls such as reduced flow conditions associated with prolonged drought, channel adjustment, or localized human influences such as mining. The results of this work will help improve our understanding of how large river systems in mountainous subduction zones respond to climate variability and anthropogenic disturbance. After returning to the U.S., this work was presented at the SZ4D 2026 Community Meeting in Long Beach, California. We plan to publish the results of this work in the near future.