The scholarships from this Research Center of excellence will allow students to develop their degree work on topics on the quality of surface and underground waters in Choapa, and continue a study on the factors related to the presence of wells in Punitaqui.

The final year students of Environmental Civil Engineering at the University of La Serena, Nataly Díaz, Valeria Núñez and Matías Aguirre, were benefited by the Center for Water Resources for Agriculture and Mining, CRHIAM (Center of Excellence in Research, Program FONDAP of CONICYT), with a scholarship for financial support for the development of his memoirs.

CRHIAM is financed by the Fund for Financing Research Centers in Priority Areas of the National Commission for Scientific and Technological Research. It is led by the University of Concepción and also has the participation of the Universidad de la Frontera and the Universidad del Desarrollo, as well as the collaboration of leading universities from the US, Europe and Australia.

The academic of the Department of Mining Engineering of the ULS, Dr. Ricardo Oyarzún, pointed out that “the first stage of CRHIAM was developed between 2013 and 2018. The second stage is currently underway, an instance in which I was invited to participate as research associate. In that sense, the doors were also opened to students to formally participate with a research center of excellence and already form their contact networks.”

For his part, the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering of the U. de La Serena, Dr. Ing. Mauricio Godoy, thanked the academic for his support to the students: “we are very proud of the professor's work, as well as the students. students, who worked hard to get this scholarship and we urge them to continue working and wish them the greatest success in their degree workshops and extend my congratulations to the entire work team.” 

The Environmental Civil Engineering student and beneficiary of the scholarship, Valeria Núñez, indicated that “we are happy to have received this support, in my degree workshop an indirect method is being applied to evaluate the evolution of groundwater storage in selected basins.” .

While the student Matías Aguirre commented that his “memory will allow us to determine how agriculture and mining are related to the water quality of the Choapa River Basin.”

Nataly Díaz, also a student and beneficiary of the scholarship, explained that this support is key since it will allow her to develop an analysis of the factors that determine the availability of groundwater in the Estero de Punitaqui basin.

Written by María José Barraza, FIULS 2030 Project