We spoke with Kewrin Choez, a Geology major from Guayaquil who works on the development of a petrographic description of an area located in southern Carchi.

Kewrin Choez heard about Yachay Tech University for the first time through a program that sought for student leaders to learn about the project and present it to their peers. ‘That talk convinced me that I wanted to study here. I hesitated after a while, but the things they told me during that first presentation were key to make my decision’ admits Kewrin. He remembers that the first time he arrived on campus he was surprised about his professors’ humble personality.

That is also one of the things he likes the most about his major. “I’ve always liked different courses, but Geology was that one course that was different from the others,” he says. For Kewrin, the most exciting feature of Geology is how diverse it is and the potential it has to combine with other sciences. He likes the different perspectives that Geology can provide when observing physical phenomena and proposing hypotheses. He especially likes petrology, which is the branch that studies the origin of rocks. Kewrin says he finds it amazing that minerals (which are solids with such diverse, beautiful, and unique configurations) naturally happen on our planet.

For his thesis project, he is working on a branch of the same field. Kewrin works hand in hand with Yaniel Vásquez, Ph.D., a professor of the School of Earth Sciences, Energy and Environment, and under the supervision of Uwe Martens, Ph.D. They are making a petrographic description of an area known as Monte Olivo, in southern Carchi. This area is of great geological interest as it has rocks that appeared when the last supercontinent Pangea broke apart.

However, this is not the first time that Kerwin investigates the geology of the north of the country. He participated in a project that sought to decipher the space-time evolution of the Imbabura volcano. The project was supervised by Patricia Larrea, Ph.D., and lasted a little over a year. As part of this project, Kewrin did an internship in a laboratory of paleomagnetism at Michigan Tech. In addition, he previously participated with Yaniel Vázquez in an Introduction to Geology course for local and national tour guides. The course was part of the framework of activities for the approval of the Imbabura Geopark project.

When he finishes his research project and his undergraduate studies, Kewrin wants to work. “I would like to gain some experience in the industry to get a better perspective of what I want to specialize in,” he says. He wants to make sure that his branch of specialization is adequate and can be professionally applicable for him. This is important because his mid-term goal is to continue with his studies.