By Rachel Berry

Miami University geology major John Fink was one of six people in the world chosen to participate in the International Internship Program at Okayama University in Japan. Fink will be studying at the Misasa Institute for Planetary Materials.

Fink’s research advisor, John Rakovan, recommended the program, which aligns directly with the research Fink is currently doing at Miami.

Fink currently studies a mineral called apatite in subduction zones, which are where two plates of the earth’s crust push together, one beneath another. In Japan, Fink will be studying the implications for subduction zone transport of halogens (a type of element) in serpentine (a mineral).

Students in the program are assigned to three total projects, with two students working on each one.

“The internship is there to emphasize international collaboration in the sciences,” Fink said. “Having these connections internationally is really valuable. Getting this internship I’ll have these connections throughout my career, and that’s how I think it sets me up perfectly for what I want to do in the future.”

Fink said he is excited because the lab facilities at Okayama are state of the art.

“It sounded like an opportunity I couldn’t pass up,” he said.