Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Nicaragua-Leon

Renewable energy research isn't exactly what I have in mind for this project, but popular areas such as this often have working and developing systems that are directly translatable in many ways to other forms of scientific research. Such was the case at UNAN-Leon.

With no physics department and a very small and poorly functioning math and statistics department, I turned my attention to the renewable energy department and research division.

There are 22 individuals in the masters program, nine of whom are teachers at the university. Msc.Jorge Isaac Cisne Altamirano is a Geochemist who studied in Iceland, and is one of the coordinators of the masters program. He described the system for completing a masters, which entails intensive year-long classwork followed by research and thesis work within industry, at a geothermal plant for instance. 

A large number of classes are currently taught by visiting professors with PhD's from Spain, but Jorge's attitude towards this aspect of the program was something new. He sees the use of foreign professors as a step but not an overall necessity. 

What he hopes to achieve is a self-sustaining program. The teachers already associated with UNAN-Leon, and some of the independent students as well, will become professors for the following classes of masters students. Over the years, this will progressively decrease the need to spend money on visiting professors, and in turn free up money to invest in better equipment and research. With better equipment and research opportunities, more will join the field, and it will continue to grow.

If this masters program progresses as expected, it represents an interesting and efficient model for getting scientific programs on their feet.

Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Honduras: Astronomy and Astrophysics

The "Facultad de Ciencias Espaciales," located on a hill on the outskirts of campus, was a surprising find, physically and ideologically.


In 1991, following post-grad work in Spain, Maria Cristina Pineda de Carias returned to Honduras to set-up a small observatory and establish the Space Sciences department.


The fruits of Professor Carias' efforts are an established masters program in Astronomy and Astrophysics, along with a masters program in geographic science and technology (satellite cartography, ecological analysis, etc...), and cultural studies and research into historical Astronomical practices, specifically the Mayans.


Professors with PhD's from Spain and other countries frequently visit to teach classes and instruct on research, and the school publishes an annual journal that includes research from professors and students.


The principal goal of this institution is research, and all professors (most of whom studied in this very program) and students participate in research projects. Most masters students do periods of research in other countries, notably Spain and Argentina.


Norman Palma, who was my major contact here and later life-saver, is a prime example of what's been accomplished by Professor Carias. Norman received his Masters in Astrophysics here, which included research at an observatory in San Juan, Argentina. He followed his Masters with further study at Ohio University, then returned for a full-time position with paid research in the Space Sciences Department.


As of yet, there is no pre-grad program, and the Masters program consistently has few students (I believe five was the present number), but a pre-grad program is set to begin within the next year, and the hope is that this will increase the number of Masters program candidates. For whatever reason, perhaps for lack of awareness, rarely do students matriculate from the physics department to the Masters Astrophysics program, but perhaps that will change now with a large number of physics majors and potentially more professors to teach these students.


Above all, the current goal is to raise the level of research being done to the point where publications in international journals are possible. It's certainly not an easy process, but the progress displayed here shows what can be done with vision and  a little support.






Side Note: After my visit, with my bike loaded up, I got a flat tire around 7pm on the highway near the university. Night-time with a broken down motorcycle with all my possessions in one of the most dangerous, gang-ridden cities in Latin America, was a potential equation for disaster. Luckily I was close enough to wobble to the University entrance, where I was able to get in contact with Norman. He drove me and my bike in his pick-up to the nearest tire place and invited me to stay in his house. Who says Astrophysicists don't have social graces??

Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Honduras: Physics

The UNAH system is one of the largest in Central America, supporting over 40,000 students at their main campus in Tegucigalpa, along with satellite campuses in the other major Honduran cities. At the "Tegus" campus, over 100 of these students are within the physics department, a relatively large number compared to what I'd encountered so far. Numbers provide potential, but determination proves to be the most important factor in scientific inquiry, and this was found in abundance as well.

I began by briefly meeting with Dr. Alejandro Galo Roldan, the director of the Licenciatura (Bachelors/Pre-Grad) program in physics, and his very helpful colleague, Professor Carlos Tenorio, who arranged for me to give a little talk to his class later that afternoon.

I spent the next two hours speaking to the student-president of the physics program, a student in his final year of a double-major physics-math degree, Juan Junior Calderon. Juan and the other students he introduced me to provided a fresh perspective on various issues, especially the deficiency of secondary school education in Honduras and the ensuing unpreparedness of incoming physics students: With essentially zero useful science or math background, and classes/books commencing at a relatively high level at UNAH, many potentially capable students are forced to drop out or spend copious amounts of time catching up on basic studies on their own (another interpretation is that this leaves only the most motivated students left in the program at present...).

To continue on that theme, it was fascinating to learn how he and others came to study physics in the first place: Since science and math education is so deficient at all levels in Honduras, those with a natural curiosity find themselves watching discovery channel and other related educationally oriented programming, and when possible, do their own learning and searching on the Internet. Juan eloquently referred to his and the upcoming classes of students as "una nueva generacion."

The talk, with about 15 pre-grad physics students, was informative and focused on many of the common themes; the paucity of research opportunities, the lack and need for more scholarships, the need to exit the country to pursue higher degrees, the strong desire for having more comprehensive instruction and familiarity with modern research areas via visiting professors, and the hope that there will be reason in the future to return following post-grad degrees. These students also projected an intense aura of motivation; just for them to be there, despite all the obstacles, it couldn't really be any other way.

The afternoon concluded in a meeting with the director of the up-start masters program in "general" physics. The program is set to begin it's second stage, with the intention of graduating students who complete proper thesis work, and encouraging those graduating from the pre-grad program to matriculate. The first stage was providing professors lacking post-grad degrees to work towards them while continuing their teaching responsibilities, but this has met with some difficulties. The clearest obstacle for this program to succeed is the lack of resources available for doing proper masters-level research. Possible solutions, such as partnerships with foreign-universities that have superior resources, are being explored.

No Mathematician Left Behind

Whilst sipping a café in the central park of Santa Rosa de Copan, Honduras, I met a lovely 28 year old math teacher named Mariela.

Mariela was on a work trip from the capital city of Tegucigalpa, giving an introduction to “upper level” math instruction at the local university. Calculus 1 would be the climax of these talks, and Mariela had no illusions to the unfortunateness of this ceiling.

As a student, Mariela had always loved math and science. She thought at first that she would go into chemical engineering, but was driven away from it by her family and strong social pressure that suggested women were incapable of such a profession. She had to settle for a teaching degree in math, having no opportunity to study beyond two semesters of calculus.

Her daily job is teaching uninspired students uninspiring basic algebra in high school, with her jumping at any opportunity to visit small universities to teach slightly more interesting mathematics. She states with a passion her belief that her mind and heart have gone to waste, that she knows she could have done so much more.