Ricardo Duran
I am Ricardo Duran, a geosciences master's student at Midwestern State University. My path into the earth sciences began before I finished high school. I completed advanced coursework during my senior year, which was later homologated into an Associate of Applied Science in Surveying Engineering Technology from the National Learning Service of Colombia (SENA). I was also awarded "Ser Pilo Paga," a fully funded scholarship from the Government of the Republic of Colombia given to top performers on the national high school exit exam, the Saber 11. Drawn to the wonders of the Earth, I went on to study geology at Universidad Industrial de Santander (UIS), where I pursued my studies with insatiable curiosity, serving as a Teaching Assistant for the igneous petrology course and completing specialized coursework in hydrogeology, GIS, and remote sensing. My undergraduate studies culminated in a thesis, "Estudio y Análisis Petrográfico y Geoquímico de las Mineralizaciones Cupríferas Aflorantes en el Municipio de Curumaní, Cesar," in which I characterized multiple outcrops of secondary copper mineralization controlled by low-temperature fluid remobilization and redox front formation.
Shortly after graduating, I worked alongside my thesis advisor on multiple projects in the Vetas-California Mining District, where our team carried out surface and underground fieldwork in extreme, high-altitude, sub-zero conditions. I documented mineral identification and conducted systematic underground sampling at five-meter intervals, collecting and documenting over 1,000 samples while supervising and training a team of three miners in rigorous QA/QC procedures. I performed geostatistical analysis using variograms and kriging, interpolating the sample data to build a 3D ore body model. We compiled geological maps highlighting mineralization zones and their ore grade and economic potential. Finally, our team concluded the project by co-authoring the NI 43-101 compliant technical reports for these mines. At a smaller scale, I later directed a two-person geology team through the surface exploration phase of a privately owned property near the La Colosa mine, producing geological maps of mineralization zones and preparing technical reports on the findings.
Starting in Fall 2026, I am pursuing a two-year master's degree in geosciences under the guidance of Dr. Kashif Mahmud, where I aim to use cave drip logger records from NBC and CWAN monitoring sites, together with remotely sensed environmental datasets, to identify hydrologic controls on recharge and evaluate the relationships between surface conditions and subsurface water movement.
Feel free to contact me via email, LinkedIn, or phone at (865) 386-2834 for any inquiries.
