CENTER FOR ENGINEERING SUSTAINABILITY AND RESILIENCE

After a blissful eight hour and fifteen minute flight (blissful for me, seeing as I slept the whole time — others were not so lucky), we arrived in Santiago at the crack of dawn. After passing through immigration and gathering our things, we went straight to our hotel. However, there is no rest for the wicked, so we dropped our bags off in our rooms and pretty much immediately set off for Pontificia Universidad Católica via Santiago’s metro station. 

PUC (the acronym is pronounced “pook” in Spanish) is one of the largest and oldest universities in Chile, with four campuses located in Santiago. We visited the main one, San Joaquín, and were received by both the internationalization office and a few mining engineering students: Mariel, Miguel, and Carlos. Prof. Javiera Alarcón Laserna led us through an introductory workshop on Latin American culture. Then the students gave us a tour of their labs and Carlos explained his doctoral thesis to us. (As a Communication Studies student who hasn’t been in a lab outside my high school, much of this went over my head. It seemed cool though!) We finished up our time at the university exploring the festivities related to the Chilean day of independence, which included watching a folk dance competition and playing Chile’s version of corn hole. 

Following our visit at the university, we had the opportunity to visit the AngloAmerican Chile corporate offices, located on the 47th floor of a very fancy skyscraper. There, we were received by Rafael Ascanio, who works on biodiversity assessment, and Gabriella Fuenzalida. They gave us an overview of copper mining, the company, and its sustainability initiatives. The presentation was fascinating. During the presentation, Sr. Fuenzalida said, “We have to do it (mining critical minerals), and we have to do it right.” I think this point of view is critical as we move forward with the energy transition: the acknowledgement that, until we determine some sort of alternative, mining operations such as the ones we are exploring in Chile are imperative and must exist, but they do not have to perpetuate the exploitative socio-ecological history of the industry. 

  After we finished with the presentation and put the office’s Nespresso machine through the wringer, we went to the mall to exchange our dollars into pesos and grabbed dinner near the Centro Cultural Gabriela Mistral. Then we returned to the hotel and collapsed in our beds, exhausted. All in all, it was a great (and busy!) first day in Chile and I think it set us up nicely for the rest of the trek.

On day two, the trek crew flew from Santiago to Calama to tour Codelco's Chuquicamata copper mine. Chuquicamata lies about 20 km outside the city of Calama and produces a steady supply of low-grade ore that predominantly originates from a sulfide and oxide ore body. Chuquicamata began as an open pit mine but is currently being adapted into an underground mine which will employ a block caving mining method to extract ore. The mine is operated by Chile's national mining company, Codelco, who nationalized the mine in 1971 and took it over from an American mining company, the Anaconda Copper Mining Co. Since taking over, Codelco has continued to adapt to new mining technologies and is now using AI to improve their safety record, among other innovations. Chuquicamata mine has been in operation since 1915, when the pit mine was opened, and has continued to grow and continue to produce since. This has resulted in Chuquicamata being one of the largest copper mines in the world, and one of the top producers as well. The tour included an overview of the mining operations such as a view of the pit, a walk through the concentrator plant, and a journey through the refinery. Witnessing each aspect of the process was equally as impressive as the views from the open pit. At the end of the tour, the crew hopped into a van and drove about an hour and a half to the town of San Pedro, where the next mine tour will take place.

After arriving in San Pedro de Atacama and getting a much needed full night of rest, we woke up and ate breakfast prepared by the hostel. It was today that we would have our long anticipated trip to the Salar de Atacama SQM Lithium extraction facility. The trip to SQM was about two hours long. On arrival, we were greeted by SQM staff and a beautifully prepared spread of snacks.

We were walked through a presentation highlighting the main operations of the SQM facility. In short, the facility has two products, lithium and potassium, that are extracted via a process relying heavily on evaporation. Large amounts of high lithium concentrated brine is pumped to the surface and directed into pools. These pools are shallow. The idea is that the brine will evaporate, leaving behind non-valuable salts that are heavy in concentration within the brine. Salts like NaCl. What remains after the evaporation process is brine with a higher concentration of lithium. The brine is then directed into another pool, where evaporation takes place again; leaving behind brine with an even higher concentration of lithium. This process is repeated several times until a 6% Lithium concentration solution is created. The solution is then sent to a processing facility where that solution reaches an even higher concentration of lithium. This lithium is sent abroad, mainly to China, to be processed into energy supply products like batteries.

After learning about the general operations process of the facility, we went out to see the lithium pools first hand. Perhaps what stood out almost immediately, and even more than the pools themselves, was the mounds of waste piled up across the facility land. This “waste” is all of the non-valuable salts. It was essentially a land of rolling giant table-salt hills. These salts being an essentially useless by-product of the lithium extraction process left many of us with questions of how we can make those salts useful. We’re still not sure.

We finished the tour at a viewpoint where we could see the lithium pools in all their glory. From right to left, low-concentration to high-concentration, the pools change color gradually from a turquoise blue to yellow. It was something that I’m sure all of us will remember when we look around and see all of the lithium reliant technology we use our daily lives.

Finally, we returned to our starting point at SQM. We were served a wonderful 4-course meal, obviously well thought out and artistically plated. We were all greatly surprised and enthused, but mostly grateful for the experience. After lunch, we returned to San Pedro de Atacama, where we explored and immersed ourselves in the town until dinner. It was then time for much needed rest before our 6am departure time the next morning.

On Friday, September 13th, we started the day early to go on a desert ecosystems tour in the Atacama Desert. At 6 am we were picked up at our hostel in San Pedro de Atacama by our tour guide, Ernesto. After picking up a few other tourists, we headed to Laguna Chaxa. This laguna is very special because it's home to three different types of flamingoes: the Andean flamingo, which has a black tail; the Chilean flamingo; and the James flamingo, which is a little smaller. The lithium mine that we had seen the previous day was mentioned because the pumping of the brine from the ground is thought to be affecting the groundwater levels in the area and the lagoon is quickly losing water, affecting the migration of the flamingoes. We got there at sunrise and it was absolutely breathtaking (along with the wind chill). We then went to the Tropic of Capricorn to stop for breakfast. Ernesto and Sammy (our student guide) then made us an amazing breakfast spread with breakfast sandwiches and coffee. We then started our journey up into the Andes to see more lagoons, Miscanti and Miñiques, and volcanoes in the park. We stopped at the two lagunas under the view of the active volcanoes in the area. Then we took off for Piedras Rojas. At this point, some of us were feeling the affects of being at 14,000 feet and we walked slowly out to the Red Rocks Lagoon. The wind was VERY strong and so we stayed long enough to take pictures and enjoy the view and then we walked back. After we piled back in the van, we went to a place put of the wind for lunch, which consisted of a great salad and dessert. We then headed back to San Pedro de Atacama. Once we had rested and showered at the hostel, we headed for dinner at a French cafe nearby and ended the night by walking around the town a little more.

Today, we traveled from San Pedro to Iquique, a journey that seemed to stretch endlessly through the expansive desert. The landscape shifted subtly as we made our way across the Atacama, the quiet stillness broken only by the occasional cluster of buildings and communities. Though most of the day was spent on the road, our destination was worth the wait—the UC Chile Atacama Station, located within the unique fog oases.

Our precursory-tour of the station was led by Milton, who explained the new research projects and the expanding infrastructure at the site. One of the most interesting aspects was how they’ve developed systems to capture water from the fog using predominantly plastic structures. It was fascinating to think about how this seemingly small-scale process could provide water in a place as dry as the Atacama. Milton’s insights into this technology and the potential it holds for other arid regions really stuck with me, especially given Chile's complex relationship with water due to its mining activities.

Mining is a dominant force here, and you can feel its presence everywhere, from the infrastructure to the people’s livelihoods. As Milton spoke about the research, I kept reflecting on the challenges Chile faces as it tries to balance industrial growth with sustainability. The fog capture system is a small but hopeful example of how innovation can make a difference, even in the most comfortless of environments.

After the tour, we returned to our yurt-like domes for the night, where River and Halle treated us to a delicious dinner. It was the perfect end to a long day of travel, filled with good conversation and reflection on the importance of sustainable solutions in a world increasingly defined by the demands of industry.

Today I woke up in a dome for the first time. We spent the night at Alto Patache, a PUC research station dedicated to water reclamation research on fog banks. Our guide and station director Milton spends his time at the research station doing his best impression of Matt Damon in the movie Martian, with the benefit of plentiful water and oxygen. On a good day, Alto Patache collects 400 liters of water from the rolling fog using mesh.  All of the station’s water needs are met by its fog collectors, including its greenhouse, where Milton grows lettuce and strawberries. Outside, he is developing an irrigation system.

After watching the sun rise, we began the day by preparing and eating a communal breakfast. We then took a three-hour hike around the station. We saw how stones set at 90 degrees serve as natural fog collectors and create an oasis in the desert.

These mountains were covered in vegetation a few thousand years ago. Today, the ecosystem’s base consists of lichen and perennial bulb plants, which lie dormant during the dry season. Rafael counted at least 20 different species in a single stretch of the cliff.

Through various instruments, the station measures seismography, rainfall, humidity, solar radiation, and wind speed and direction. While perfectly dry during our hike, the site experiences significant rainfall and sediment deposits every 10 to 15 years during particularly strong El Niños. The site’s original research station washed away during one of these events.

Our hike was accompanied by an otherworldly view of mountainous desert meeting the coast. Below us was one of two local ports, which ship much of the region’s copper concentrate and cobalt. Most of these minerals are bound for China.

After our tour, we drove down to the ocean. The Humboldt current causes significant upwelling off Chile’s coast, bringing nutrients and thus biodiversity to the ocean’s surface.

After stopping for lunch, Milton showed us ruins of a 4,000-year old fishing village and its graveyard, unearthed during construction of the coastal highway. Milton told us that the ancient villagers likely lived off of fish and shellfish and traded across the Andes.

Milton also showed us a 4,000-year old painted rock on the coast.

I found it difficult to comprehend how little regulation was placed on archeological sites mere feet from a major highway. We could walk about the ruins and graveyard without supervision or limit to our entry. Historic preservation in the United States feels ironclad by comparison.

Our day ended with a flight back to Santiago. Tomorrow, we will fly to Copiapo and visit the Mantoverde copper mine.

Today was a travel day for our third and last mine visit of the trip. We started early this morning in Santiago and after some slight delays, we landed in Copiapo and were on our way to the Manto Verde mine.

This mine is unique because of its smaller size and newer management system. Manto Verde developed in 1960 in the Antofagasta region, but in 2015 was primarily taken over by Capstone Copper. Francisco, the HR manager of the site, welcomed us and we watched a brief safety video on the site before heading to lunch! It was a cool experience to eat with the mining workers and experience a part of their day-to-day life. On our walk around we got to see the emphasis the management team has put on quality of worker life with the fútbol and multipurpose fields. There are even plans to build a movie theater for weekly activities!

Because of the delays earlier in the day, we had a shortened tour but still got to see a lot. First we visited one of their four open pit mines. They explained their strategy of blasting weekly, as well as the roughly two months it took per  layer. The size of the pit was astounding for only being started in January. Next, we got a nice view of the site from a lookout point, and then moved on to tour the operations control room for their sulfide plant. This facility was recently installed, and overall the focus is on optimizing copper production. Before the site could only treat oxides in the SX-EW plant, but now they have the capability of treating sulfides to ship out copper concentrates. It got a little chilly at one point, but overall a sunny site tour!

We talked a lot today about the importance of women in mining. Lucia, the supervisor of the sulfide plant control center, was a key example of this. She has noticed a large shift in the Chilean mining industry over her past 15 years of experience. There used to not even be women’s bathrooms at sites. Fortunately they are available now, but women at the site are still working towards basic requirements — like sites carrying women’s shoes. Manto Verde has expanded its ratio from roughly 3% to 10% over the past years. Even just walking through the cafeteria at lunch, though, you notice the overwhelming proportion of men. However, we did learn that there is pay equity between genders in the Chilean mining industry.

After our day at the mine, we wrapped up and headed to the airport to fly back to Santiago where we grabbed dinner and caught the sunset.

Today, our group started the day visiting the Cultural Arts Center. The center held various shops and exhibits with artisanal items handmade by people from various time periods. One such exhibit held items from artists during the era immediately following the coup of September 11th, 1973. Many people were “disappeared” during this time and taken to prison camps where they were tortured and subjected to inhumane conditions. Reading through some of the descriptions, I learned about how the people held in these camps utilized art and craft making as a way to regain their dignity. In this exhibit, there were also more current pieces for sale. In this center, we also saw a community Tai Chi class going on which was quite wholesome.
After visiting this center, we wrapped up our Mining Industry experience here in Chile by visiting the Ministry of Mining. We heard from 3 individuals about their work in both the Copper and Lithium mining industry. This presentation was incredibly informative after having already visited many of the mines they discussed. We were able to hear from government officials’ perspective about the goals they have for the industry as well as some of the challenges they’re currently facing.
We enjoyed a Peruvian lunch after the ministry. After lunch, the group of students ventured on our own to Santa Lucia, a hillside attraction where we boarded a Funicular to reach the top of the hill. From the top we enjoyed gorgeous views of the city as well as the mountains that lay in the distance. Next, we visited Bella Vista Patio to visit the shops within and enjoyed a lively atmosphere when we snacked at one of the restaurants within. We all met up for dinner afterwards and wrapped up the night.

Starting from our hotel in Santiago, we left at 8 am to get to the bus station and departed on our bus to the port town of Valparaiso. On the way, we found out that our tour guide for the day had cancelled on us and so, with Rafael in the lead, we did our own self-guided tour of the city. As soon as we got off the bus, we ran into a Fiestas Patrias parade. After watching some of the parade we went to the artistic part of town. The city is comprised of neighborhoods built on the steep seaside and many of the homes and buildings are bright colors and covered in artistic murals. It was baffling how much of the city was covered in art; there was hardly a wall left untouched. Many of the murals looked very fresh and we noticed that since some of them were political messages, the art stayed up to date with what was going on in the world. Kim noticed that many of the murals included cats and started to document all of them (as seen in the cat collage) with a total of 31 different cats throughout Valparaiso. We walked through a couple different artisan markets, including one in front of the Armada de Chile building. We ate lunch in an awesome restaurant with fresh seafood and continued to walk around the city, taking in the views. Another wrench was thrown in our plans when our bus back to Santiago was cancelled and we had to reschedule to an earlier bus, so we had to take off back to the bus station. After a chilly day of walking around a port town, we all enjoyed the comfortable bus ride back and had dinner in Santiago and called it a night.

Today, the group went to a traditional Fonda to enjoy the lively festivities of "La Semana de la Chilenidad." This vibrant celebration, which honors Chilean culture and independence, featured a bustling fair filled with typical Chilean food, music, games, and a variety of captivating performances. One of the highlights of the event was the equestrian showcases, where squads from different countries participated in a “Cultural Exchange,” demonstrating both horsemanship and camaraderie. We also had the opportunity to watch traditional Chilean rodeo showcases, which showcased the skill and tradition of the huasos (Chilean cowboys). In addition, there were dynamic dance performances, featuring dances like the Cueca, Chile’s national dance, adding to the festive and cultural atmosphere.
For lunch at the fair, we ate some of Chile’s most beloved dishes, including choripán, a flavorful sausage sandwich, anticuchos, which are grilled meat skewers, and, of course, empanadas, a staple of Chilean cuisine. This was the third day of the week-long "Semana de la Chilenidad" celebration, and the festivities would continue for a few more days.
It was a wonderful experience to be surrounded by the enthusiasm and pride that Chileans have for their Independence Day. The atmosphere was really fun, and it was clear how deeply rooted these traditions are within the community. After spending most of the day at the fair, we returned to the hotel for dinner, reflecting on the richness of Chilean culture and the celebrations that brought it to life.

9 Northwestern students took part in CESR's inaugural Global Engineering Trek in Energy Storage & Critical Minerals from September 7th - 16th, 2023.  Learn more about their experience below.

This program was supported in part by the Buffett Institute for Global Affairs, and in part by CESR, the Paula M. Trienens Institute for Sustainability and Energy, and by NSF Grant 2330041 SuReMiN. 

We arrived on Thursday morning in a sunny Santiago.  Aside from Rafael Urbana Casanova, a graduate student co-leader joining us on the trip who is Chilean, none of us have ever visited Santiago or Chile before.  We were all eager to learn about the city and experience it, so today was all about the city of Santiago.  We took a funicular up San Cristóbal Hill and enjoyed views over the city.  The views of the Andes mountains were also wonderful.  The next stop on our tour was the Plaza de Armas, the historical city center.  Finally, we walked to the Palacia de La Moneda which houses presidential offices.  We learned about the history of the building and former President Salvador Allende from an outdoor exhibit.  In 1973, missiles damaged the building during the coup.  The time in Santiago helped us get a feel for the lifestyle and culture of the city. In some ways, with skyscrapers, offices, and shops, the city has similarities to Chicago.  Architecture of older, colonial buildings makes some parts of the city feel like Europe.  The surrounding Andes mountains connect the city with nature.  I think many of us hope to be able to explore Santiago more deeply in the future. After our touring, we enjoyed dinner together and are looking forward to our visit to the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile tomorrow.

Today, we had a tour of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (PUC), led by students from the engineering school. It was exciting for us to meet students our age and experience what university life is like abroad. We strolled around the San Joaquín campus and learned a lot about the university's history, the various programs it offers, and some fun bits about school traditions. Our tour concluded at the Mining Engineering department, where we attended a lecture by Professor Alvaro Videla on sustainable mining strategies in Chile. It was interesting to learn about the growing emphasis on transparency and the development of sustainable solutions within Chilean mining companies. Following the lecture, we enjoyed lunch and had the opportunity to connect with other students in the mining engineering department.

My favorite part of the day was during the middle of the PUC campus tour. Chile's Independence Day, celebrated on September 18th, kicks off with festivities at the start of the month. While we were exploring the campus, our tour guides noticed the sound of cueca music being played by some PUC alumni. They kindly demonstrated how the traditional cueca dance is performed and even invited several students from our group to join in and participate in the dance! This was, by far, my favorite part of the day and one of the most memorable moments from the trip. It was a very spontaneous activity that we just happened to come across, but it was really fun to experience it and learn from the PUC students.

Following the tour, we walked around Santiago with the PUC guides and made a stop at the Centro Gabriel Mistral. Here, we learned about the history of the coup that had taken place in Chile. Our visit happened to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the event, and as a result, the city was covered in memorials for the event. It was interesting to learn about its impact on the community and see how the country has worked to heal from the event. Finally, we walked up Cerro Santa Lucía to enjoy the panoramic view and neighborhood before parting ways from the PUC students for dinner. 

After a late, but exciting night, we woke up early to catch our plane to Calama and San Pedro de Atacama. On the drive to the hostel, we were in awe as we gazed at the incredible view of the mountains. Once we arrived at the Pablito Hostal, we unpacked and prepared for lunch at a cute bakery called Franchuteria. They offered croissants, baguettes, and sandwiches. My personal favorite was a raspberry jelly filled croissant drizzled with white chocolate. Unlike most bakeries, Franchuteria integrated the natural environment with trees surrounding tables which provided a beautiful dining area.

The next couple of hours were spent exploring the town and recharging from the busy days. Later, we had dinner at Diablillo where some of our daring members tried llama and guanaco, a camel-like species living in South America.

As the sun set, we prepared for our Astronomical Tour led by astronomer Alberto Nardin. Wooden platforms with blankets and pillows were set up, and we gazed at the stars above as Nardin used a laser to point out constellations such as Crux, the Alpha Centauri, and Beta Centauri. We also had the chance to better observe the stars with his telescope. My favorite sight was that of Saturn because of the perfect image as if it were a sticker taped on the lense.  Nardin also took pictures of us under the stars, and after, we enjoyed drinks and snacks by the bonfire.

We returned to the hostel around midnight and prepared for tomorrow’s daylong expedition.

For our second day in San Pedro, we went on a 12 hour excursion into the Atacama desert with an ecotourism guide to learn more about the biodiversity of the desert. We started our day off early, before sunrise, and headed out to the Los Flamencos National Reserve to see flamingos before they left the laguna for day. Of the three flamingo species in Chile, we were able to see two: the Andean flamingo and the Chilean flamingo. Watching the colors of the sunrise reflect in the water and seeing the flamingos so close was such a beautiful sight. After visiting the flamingos, we drove to the Tropic of Capricorn to eat breakfast. By this point the sun had finally risen and we all happy to get warmed up. The breakfast was delicious, made right by our van and drank with maté tea, which is local to the region and helps with altitude sickness. Next, we visited Laguna Chaxa. We were lucky, and there was no wind in the area and the still water of the laguna mirrored the mountains surrounding it. Also, near the laguna we saw a small pack of vicuñas which are similar to llamas. Their numbers have recently grown in the Atacama region after years of being hunted for their soft wool. Our final stop was Red Rocks, a small hike through a rocky region to Salar de Talar, a beautiful light blue water. The day was amazing, and I was shocked by the amount of wildlife throughout the desert. Although it may seem empty, we quickly learned that the Atacama region is rich in life and beauty. I also appreciated that we took the time to understand the ecosystems where lithium mining is taking place.

Our day started with breakfast at the hostel, followed by a van ride south from San Pedro to the SQM lithium production facility. The ride took us through small, sparsely populated towns and desert, most of which we had seen during yesterday’s tour. On the final road leading to the SQM facility, we spotted pipelines which we later learned were freshwater supply lines, and, in the distance, massive piles of what appeared to be stark white sand. We were greeted by Ivonne Toro, a community relations director for SQM, and our tour guide, who gave a presentation on the operations and environmental considerations of the facility while we had refreshments. An extensive Q & A session ensued, including questions about the biological and ecological factors that the company tracks, the water usage and byproduct production of the lithium harvesting process, and the about the company’s relationship with local communities.

                The process of lithium extraction at the Salar de Atacama site includes pumping vast quantities of lithium-containing brine to the surface, to be evaporated in large, shallow pools. The evaporation causes non-valuable salts of high concentration including NaCl (table salt) and various magnesium-containing mineral salts to precipitate from the brine, leaving a higher concentration of lithium behind. The brine is then transferred to the next pool, where more mineral salts are precipitated out, leaving, after a series of 5 pools, a 5-6% lithium solution (from the starting concentration of 0.18%). This solution is then delivered by truck 300km to the chemical processing facility, where it is further refined to produce the ~30% lithium that is shipped to refinement facilities abroad, primarily in China, to be fully processed into lithium products, including lubricants, batteries, and pharmaceutical products. A number of important lessons were emphasized to us during the explanation and ensuing tour of the facility, including:

• The brine extracted is not potable for human consumption, and the nucleus of the salar (where the facility and aquifer are located) is, as currently understood, devoid of life. This means the significant water use in the form of brine extraction has no measured negative impact on the surrounding ecosystems or communities.
• The comparatively minimal freshwater usage is necessary, but expected to decrease beyond the already significant decreases with continued R&D.
• Continued R&D is also expected to significantly increase the percent yield of lithium from the raw brine (a number not shared with us), so the company is hoping to decrease brine extraction by nearly 50% over time, even while continuing to increase production.

The group had several main observations from the tour, including the incredible scale of the facility (31 1km by 300m ponds for the first of 5 stages), the apparent disorder of the facility (including tangled piping and extra materials), and the incredible amount of byproduct, mostly sodium and magnesium salts, which is produced (composing nearly every road, surface, and embankment we touched).

The tour concluded with a lunch and further conversation with our guides, before taking the van back to San Pedro for a night of live music in the square for the 50 year memorial of the 1973 coup, shopping from local artisans, and a late dinner.

The second day back from San Pedro we started the day by taking the Metro to the Sustainable Mineral Institute, a research institute through the University of Queensland Brisbane focused on researching and supporting the increasing demand for rare minerals through a lens of sustainability and inclusion of indigenous communities. We met with Doug Aitken, the director of the Chilean branch of SMI and a group of other people who worked there, including a mining engineer, a specialist in biodiversity and forestry, a geology engineer, and several people who worked with indigenous communities affected by mining. People on the team were from Scotland, Belgium, England, and Chile and had a range of different career paths and ages. 

They gave us a presentation on different projects they were working on and explained how agreements worked between 21 different indigenous groups and mining companies. They introduced some of the challenges facing sustainability in mining, including the storage of tailings (byproducts in the mining process), water scarcity, and what to do about abandoned mining sites and mine closures. 

After the meeting with SMI, we met up with Mikkel, a mining engineering student from Pontificad Universidad Catolica de Chile, to head to El Teniente, a copper mine that is the largest underground mine in the world. It is run by CODELCO, a company that is owned by the Chilean government. It was a beautiful drive up a snowy mountain, where you could occasionally see chutes of grey liquid (tailings from the mine) flowing down the side. 

We arrived and put on safety equipment: bright orange jumpsuits, rubber books, helmets, air masks, gloves, and a GPS tracker. Inside the mountain, we started out by seeing the offices where they control some of the equipment remotely from what look like gaming chairs with joysticks and buttons. Our guide joked about an earthquake happening while we were there, but told us that it would actually be safer to be inside the mine than outside of it there was an earthquake. 

 We then went into the actual mines, walking through mud in silent, dark tunnels. We followed our guide through the tunnels, stopping to watch trucks unload piles of rocks. It was unlike anything I had ever experienced before, and unlike some of the office tours and PowerPoint presentations we saw, I felt like I got a real sense of what it is really like to work in the mines, as well as how massive the scale of the operation is. We stopped by the control center on the way back, which was filled with screens that had symbols and words and looked like outdated computer games, and talked about our different reactions to being in the mine.

When we got back to the hotel it had been more than 12 hours since we had left, but we went to meet up with the students we had met from PUC the week before, and we talked about what we had seen on our trip and what Chilean food they suggested we try. Like all the days on the trip, it was packed, exhausting, rewarding, and full of new experiences.

We started off our Thursday morning with a visit to the Human Rights Museum in Santiago, Chile. Chile was under a military dictatorship between 1973 and 1990 under Augusto Pinochet. During that time, many Chilean people were arrested, tortured, or "disappeared." The museum was found under the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and documents the human right violations during the dictatorship. I was impressed by the "arpilleras" which are artworks that express the sorrow and record the oppression. The visit was very emotional and left important lessons for our generation.

In the afternoon we visited Chile's Ministry of Mining. We were greeted by the chief of staff Jose Inostroza Avaria. We were given 2 presentations on the government policies in mining on copper and lithium. We learned the ministry's attempt to collaborate with the ministry of environment and to diversify the players. We also had a surprise visit from Aurora Williams, the Minister of Mining, who answered many questions. It was a great follow-up of the policy side after our visit to SMI and CODELCO.

Lastly to end our day, we visited the Centro Cultural La Moneda which had the Fundación Artesanías de Chile. It is a fair trade shop which has artisan craft from local makers and it ensures they get a fair value.

I went on the Global Engineering Trek (GET) to Chile as a Psychology and Sociology student, and I didn’t know what to expect. I wasn’t sure if applying to go to Chile was meant for me because I am not a McCormick student. But, the choice to take this opportunity was one of my best academic decisions. This trip was my first time traveling abroad, and I got to learn so much more about the world.

My favorite part about this trip was going to the Atacama desert. We got to see flamingos and go stargazing; it was breathtakingly beautiful, and I had never seen anything like it. As a social scientist, I appreciated the juxtaposition of seeing nature vs. seeing the lithium mines in the desert. The day after we toured the Atacama Desert we went to visit SQM, a Chilean mining company, and their lithium mines, at which they spoke on sustainability in the industry and outlined the process of lithium production. This visit, to me, displayed a fraction of how vast the human ecological footprint is. It was astonishing to see just how big one lithium pool was in person; the picture below does not do it justice. We, as humans, extract a myriad of things from the Earth such as minerals, plants, animals and more. All of these resources that we extract contribute to the progression of society, especially minerals like lithium which is considered the “mineral of the future”. However, it is important that we are reminded of Earth’s magnificent creatures and sights that almost cannot be described with words to explain their beauty. We must do more to make sure that these sights don’t disappear. Visiting the lithium mines made me feel as though we as a society, at least in the United States, are far removed from the process of production. This allows us to forget our environmental impact. For example, I did not personally drill for brine containing lithium, but I bought my phone, iPad, and laptop which all contain lithium, and as I bought them, I did not think about the labor and resources that went into producing these items. This needs to change. Visiting the Atacama Desert increased my desire for change within larger corporations and the production of minerals. We need to look for sustainable ways to support people and the Earth, and we need to be knowledgeable about the production of the goods that are so readily available to us.

One of the reasons I applied for a GET was to learn about what it might mean to study environmental sociology. Going to Chile taught me one of the ways in which society interacts with the environment. I was eager to hear about the mining process, the increasing need for minerals, and how people view the mining process especially since mining makes up a large portion of Chile’s GDP. After Chile, I want to learn more about environmental sociology and incorporate more about sustainability into my learning. Prior to this trip, much of my study of sociology was spent learning about the social constructions of race, class, gender, and sexuality; I hope to study more about how society interacts with biodiversity, climate change and other environmental topics. Additionally, I think it will be interesting to learn more about the intersectionality of the previously named social constructs and the environment. Lastly, I hope to hear more about sustainability practices like the ones that Anglo American, a global mining company, participates in such as buying land to restore biodiversity.