earth science

Inés Cifuentes

Inés Cifuentes is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Inés Cifuentes rather than just read about it. In short: Inés Lucia Cifuentes (April 26, 1954 – December 16, 2013) was an English-born American seismologist and educator. From 1994 to 2005, she was director of the Carnegie Academy for Science Education (CASE).

Key takeaways

Inés Cifuentes belongs to earth science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Inés Cifuentes to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Inés Cifuentes from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Inés Lucia Cifuentes (April 26, 1954 – December 16, 2013) was an English-born American seismologist and educator. From 1994 to 2005, she was director of the Carnegie Academy for Science Education (CASE).

Early life Born in London, Inés Cifuentes was the child of Ecuadorian father and American mother. Her father was born in Quito, Ecuador, whereas her mother was born in New York City. Her parents both held positions for the UN which allowed Inés to be able to receive an education all throughout Latin America. While growing up, she lived in Ecuador, Chile, Paraguay and Guatemala. It was during her stay in Chile where she discovered her passion for science. In 1960, a deadly earthquake shook Santiago, Chile, resulting in the death of 1000 people. It was from this moment on that Inés knew she wanted to be a seismologist. In 1972, she graduated from Albert Einstein High School in Kensington, Maryland and went on to receive a BSc in physics from Swarthmore College and a MSc in geophysics from Stanford University in 1979.

Career She was hired by the United States Geological Survey at Menlo Park. Even though her faculty advisor tried to make her leave the program, Cifuentes earned a PhD from Columbia University in 1988, becoming the first woman to receive a doctorate in geophysics from Columbia. She pursued post-doctoral studies at the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris. On her return to the United States, she joined the Carnegie Academy for Science Education. In 2005, she joined the American Geophysical Union as Manager of Education and Career Services.

Personal life Inés Cifuentes married Frank Aikman in 1983. The couple had two children: Benjamin C. Aikman and Julia N.Aikman.

Contributions to Science & Education In 2006, she was named as the sixth recipient of the National Hispanic scientist of the year by the Museum of Science & Industry in Tampa. In 2007, she received the math and science award from the Hispanic Heritage Foundation. She assisted in establishing and became a director of Carnegie Academy for Science Education (CASE) where she was responsible for training Washington public elementary school teachers in both science and effective teaching methods. Cifuentes taught then science and math within a summer program and then worked with them during the year at their designated schools. Inés Cifuentes made an effort in the early 2000s to open a charter school to aid minority students. Unfortunately, she was unsuccessful in her efforts. Her plan was to set up a Jaime Escalante Public Charter School in Silver Spring in hopes in helping the SAT scores of minority students. Cifuentes was also a board president of Casa de Maryland. This is an organization that focusing on the rights of immigrants. She additionally was a co-chairmen on the board of directors for the dance company Dance Exchange in Takoma Park.

Death She died of breast cancer at home in Takoma Park at the age of 59.

References

External links "Dr. Inés Cifuentes - Seismologist". Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science. Archived from the original on 2015-05-16. Retrieved 2015-11-27.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Inés Cifuentes

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Inés Cifuentes claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Inés Cifuentes before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Inés Cifuentes ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Inés Cifuentes

In research: Inés Cifuentes appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Inés Cifuentes in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Inés Cifuentes is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1954 births, 2014 deaths, 20th-century American geologists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Inés Cifuentes outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Inés Cifuentes in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Inés Cifuentes means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Inés Cifuentes out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Inés Cifuentes in simple terms?

Why does Inés Cifuentes matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Inés Cifuentes?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Inés Cifuentes.