Volcanoes are a pretty sexy subject when it comes to the Earth sciences , but asMichael Poland , Scientist - in - Charge atYellowstone Volcano Observatory , told us , the fieldwork associated with this particular leg of science can be a little tense . While Poland need n’t spend his day sitting next to a volcano – his observatory is actually a digital psychiatric hospital – he has in the past , and retain to be , called in to less unchanging environment to carry out research . His work stretches beyond just its academic Charles Frederick Worth as it enable his squad to well develop the broad world for volcanic events . However , as he tells us , gaining an intimate knowledge of these colossal social organization does n’t necessarily ease your anxiousness when getting dropped by chopper at the base of a volcano that ’s acting up .
What do you do ?
I am the Scientist - in - tutelage of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory , and a geophysicist with theUS Geological Survey ’s ( USGS ) Volcano Science Center .
What did it take to get here ?
First , I had to work up up a peck of experience . That started in schoolhouse , get degrees in geology , including a doctor’s degree . I then spent three year at the Cascades Volcano Observatory , where I find to participate in the reaction to the 2004 - 2008 outbreak of Mount . St. Helens . That was an incredible learning experience . In 2005 I prompt to Hawaii and drop the next 10 years working at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory . That 10 include all variety of volcanic action , working with the public , and hit the books different styles of eruption . I give to the cascade in 2015 and had the opportunity to work on Yellowstone starting in 2017 . So , the path involved gain lots of experience at unlike eccentric of volcanoes , and also communicating with the public and other scientists .
secondly , I had a identification number of great mentors who helped to learn me what it was to be a scientist . How to communicate . How to name the most authoritative problem and to address them . The combination of experience and mentoring has really lay the base for everything I do today .
think you ’ve encounter yourself as a teenager at a careers fair : How would you describe what you do to your former self ?
I render to learn as much as possible about how volcano work so I can better auspicate future volcanic eruption and help bon ton manage with volcanic hazards . And at Yellowstone , I have the summate job of coordinating the inquiry and monitor efforts of many scientists to better understand the Yellowstone organization . It ’s exciting workplace . And it matter . It ’s of import – not just in an academic sense , but rather it has real - world consequences .
What ’s the most vulgar misconception about your line of oeuvre ?
Most people think that the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory ( YVO ) is a place – a building located in or near Yellowstone National Park where there is a faculty of USGS volcanologists to watch seismic records and do fieldwork . But in fact , there is no such place ! YVO is a “ virtual ” observation tower . There is no physical readiness . Instead , YVO is made up of scientists from nine different institution : USGS , Yellowstone National Park , University of Utah , University of Wyoming , Montana State University , UNAVCO , Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology , Idaho Geological Survey , and Wyoming State Geological Survey . We all get together on monitoring and studying Yellowstone . This variety in institutions , experience , and attainment is an incredible strength , and because all data are freely usable online , we can work together easy without have to be located in the same strong-arm place . But we all still visit Yellowstone frequently to do fieldwork , liken resultant , and install new types of monitoring equipment .
funny second on the chore ?
I had the fortune to plan a field run to study Medicine Lake Volcano , in northeast California , when I was just bulge out my career as a USGS volcanologist . I was pretty nervous about it , since I was trusted with quite a lot of duty . I dedicated myself to making certain everything was arranged , and everyone lie with their job on the mission . On the very first sidereal day , things did n’t go that well for me . I generate a vehicle stuck in the snow , and I discovered that one of the survey markers I was hoping to use as a monitoring site had been destroyed by hooliganism . At the end of the mean solar day , all I wanted was a exhibitioner and a hearty nighttime of quietus . Imagine my surprise when I make that I had forgotten to pack underwear for the trip-up ! And we were n’t on the nose nigh to a store that sold clothes – I could n’t afford the time to drive to the near urban center . So , I predict home and asked my salutary half to send some underclothing to the camping site via FedEx – antecedence overnight ! It worked . To this twenty-four hours , my colleague still make fun of me by now and then establish me underclothes as a random gift .
Memorable misstep / hairiest second on the job ?
I ’ve had a match of episodes where I was drop off by a chopper at a volcano that was acting up , which was a little nerve - wracking . In 2004 , as Mount St. Helens was starting to erupt , I was dropped off on the vent ’s upper wing so that I could repair a GPS post , which we were using to monitor change in the form of the volcano . Earlier in the daylight there had been a small burst , so things were clear ramping up ( at last there were n’t really any big event , and the vent just oozed a lava dome during 2004 - 2008 … but of line , I did n’t experience that would be the result at the meter ) . I could n’t see into the crater so I would n’t know if anything swelled was going on until it was too late . And there was nowhere to take shelter , and I was alone . But as I start out my work , I noticed a mess goat on the same ridge , a few hundred metrical unit away . That really relaxed me . I thought , " If he ’s happy being on this rooftree , so am I ! " I did the work and caught the helicopter a few hours later , none the worse for wear .
I had a alike experience in 2018 . I was helping react to the big blast of Kīlauea in that twelvemonth . The peak had start to receive great earthquakes and sudden down - fall event , and no one was exactly sure at that point in time how the activity would evolve . But I was very worried about a invaluable spell of equipment that was place in the volcanic crater . I get license to retrieve it – I would be miss off via helicopter near the place , pelt along out to the internet site , grab the equipment , and generate . I did n’t think it was a bad hazard , but there were many guard put in stead – perceiver , protocols for go / no - go , etc – that really started to make me nervous . The chopper dropped me off and flew up a bit to get an aeriform view of the crater . It direct me a few minutes to get to the land site – I had to bilk over some pretty big fissure that had just mould – but within about 10 minutes I had disconnected the equipment and returned to the landing place spot . But no helicopter . It was about 1000 foot above me , still doing aeriform observations ! I had to wait 5 or 10 minutes . Those were some of the retentive and unfrequented moment of my life ! But nothing happened , we recovered the equipment , and in the ensuing week we learned an awful lot about how calderas cave in .
What ’s your most treasured piece of music of outfit ?
I ’ve had the same rock hammer since I depart my vocation in geology . I bought it to use during my very first upper division geology course , and used it throughout college and at my field coterie , mathematical function rocks in the White and Inyo mountains of eastern California . I even dunk it in lava during my first visit to Kīlauea Volcano as part of an undergraduate flying field class ( the malleus today still has a cut look to it , and part of the rubberized handle is melted ) . In my work as a geophysicist I seldom call for a rock’n’roll hammer , but I still always take it in the field with me . It ’s often useful for help establish and maintain geophysical equipment , but I almost never use it for its original intention anymore .
What ’s one piece of advice you ’d give to someone wanting to embark on the same career ?
Get as much experience as you’re able to and accumulate mentors . sojourn vent , if that ’s your involvement . Work with unlike scientists . construct your net – identify multitude that can teach you new thing and learn from those mass . Open yourself to opportunities to discover . That will set you up for future achiever by ensuring you are in the respectable posture to take reward of whatever fortune might come your way .
