Cool Job: Megavolcano Investigator

The scoop: What sort of job involves being dropped off in the Siberian wilderness and then rafting down rivers in search of ancient catastrophes? That's part of job description of Linda Elkins-Tanton, an assistant professor of geology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The path she took to her endlessly interesting job involved some twists and turns -- including some time raising sheep and training border collies -- and so she has some sound advice for those struggling to find their way to the work they love most. She chatted with Larry O'Hanlon about her cool job, and how she got there.

larryo': Hello!

ltelkins: Hello, I found the chat box!

larryo': You can enlarge it by clicking on the diagonal arrow in the bar above the typing area if that helps

ltelkins: Right, just figured that out. I suppose you have figured this out, but I have never chatted before! Sad!

larryo': I'm fairly new to it too, really. Started only late last year. Over 40 and behind on the times

ltelkins: Judging from your website it looks like a very good way to do your interviews. And yes, I rely on my son to keep ue up-to-date on tech items.

larryo': It's more intuitive to the younger folks. I have a lot of 20-somethings who I work with and are real whizzes.

ltelkins: I'm sure we're better at something...

larryo': It has taken me months to understand half of what they are talking about.

ltelkins: I read Geek magazine and that helps.

larryo': Good idea! Perhaps I'd better. Well. I'd better get us started

ltelkins: OK

larryo': First of all. You're at MIT, Boston. Getting muggy there yet?

ltelkins: I wish...it's still masquerading as September, chilly and bright. The azaleas are blooming, though, and from my window I can see a fleet of sailboats on the Basin.

larryo': Nice! Best of both seasons. Hope it lasts for a little while.

ltelkins: About a minute...the famous rapid transition to "roads under construction."

larryo': Well let's get on with what it is you do. What do you tell your relatives?

ltelkins: I usually tell them I am a planetary geologist - I study the geological processes on planets, including the Earth.

larryo': And what do they generally say to that?

ltelkins: I get a range of reactions, from complete blankness to immediate interest and a reference to a NASA mission or the like; I think it's a challenge to immediately show someone what is interesting about the science one does. So I like to follow up with something like, "My research falls into two topics: Giant volcanic eruptions and their connection to extinctions, and the earliest formation of planets."

larryo': More blank looks or intense interest probably follows...

ltelkins: True! It's hard for me to swallow, but not everyone is fascinated by volcanoes and dinosaurs...but I also think that those first 20 million years of the solar system, when the first tiny rocks are accreting into planets and somehow evolving into Mars or the Earth or Venus, are incredibly interesting! Usually I can convert them, if they'll stick with me a moment or two.

larryo': Hah! You ought to be a science writer!

ltelkins: Doesn't every scientist have to be a science writer? We have to try, anyway.

larryo': Well, I started as a geologist myself. So you may be right.

ltelkins: What kind of geology did you do?

larryo': In school it was invertebrate paleontology. In industry it was cleaning up refineries, explosive plants, etc. Hence my change of careers

ltelkins: Yikes! Invertebrate geology to hazardous waste is a big swing. I was thinking you'd say field geology, since that's where so many people who love the natural world end up.

larryo': I did a stint as a ranger, so that's in the mix. Can you tell me 2 or 3 things that you think are the absolutely coolest aspects of your job?

ltelkins: Hmmm...OK, one that immediately springs to mind, so it must be my first choice, is riding in ex-Soviet helicopters to remote field areas in Arctic Siberia - that's when I really feel like a geologist. Then, working with students who are training to be scientists, either undergraduates or graduate students, can be incredibly exciting and rewarding. Finally, maybe it's that one moment in the lab or in front of the computer when I get a new result or have a new idea, that little "eureka" moment that is the real brass ring in science, the reward for the hard work. It's that moment when you think, I may be the first person ever to think this...

larryo': Those are some great ones! Does your job ever get routine?

ltelkins: Not so far. It's why I'm in science, and perhaps why I work among several disciplines instead of in one regular field...after my Master's degree I left science for a while and worked in business, and finally I was really bored. Every new project was too much like the last one and it felt uneventful. I went back to academic science because it is never boring, always a new challenge, a new idea, a new question.

larryo': What was your career path?

ltelkins: A bit unusual...I went to MIT as an undergraduate and started a research project that turned out really well and ended up as a Master's thesis, but when it was done I was so young and unsure that I wanted to go on to my PhD right away. I got a job as a management consultant, and then at a magazine that ran and published the results from wine competitions, and then US News & World Report (business side), and finally I ran my own little consulting business for several years, writing business plans for high-tech ventures looking for funding. At that time I was living in southern Maryland and commuting up to the cities from our little farm where I raised sheep and trained border collies! And then I was bored - not with the dogs and sheep, though. I got a job as a lecturer in mathematics at St. Mary's College of Maryland, a little gem of a school. That convinced me to go back and get my "terminal degree" and stay in academia if I could. I started on my PhD back at MIT the same week my son started kindergarten.

larryo': That kindergarten start date is an important one to a lot of folks wanting to move on.

ltelkins: It is a big transition.

larryo': My wife is looking at that date as well. yep.

ltelkins: Worked out well - we did our homework together all through his elementary school.

larryo': That's great! Hope it helped your son.

ltelkins: He seems to have survived it - he's 17 now and starting to look at colleges for himself!

larryo': Is he interested in science?

ltelkins: He's most interested in architecture, though he's got a big robotics and engineering bent to it. We've all had a lot of fun rock hunting while on vacations through the years, though!

larryo': Great basis for many things. I'm hoping I can do as well for my two boys.

ltelkins: How old are they?

larryo': 21 months and 5 (about to start Kindergarten)

ltelkins: Little ones! What fun!

larryo': Oh yeah. A loud household for sure.

ltelkins: It is great when it's easy to go out to dinner again, I must say!

larryo': My wife is REALLY looking forward to that. She's a foodie

ltelkins: Huge pleasure forever. We got my son eating rice noodles with nam pla when he was little, but he went off it until just recently. Now we all eat the same things!

larryo': a relief when cooking. a lot simpler

ltelkins: You bet

larryo': Did you ever expect to have the career that you now have?

ltelkins: It didn't surprise me to be back in academia, because I grew up right by Cornell University and my brother is an academic (though our parents were not). What really surprised me was to start my Ph.D. so relatively late, at about age 30, and be able to end up in a really excellent school like this one. I feel really, really, really lucky.

larryo': Do you have any advice for young people who are trying to follow the things that really interest them -- to make careers out of them?

ltelkins: I know it sounds trite, but I absolutely believe that and I preach it - follow the thing you love best. One of the most fortunate things in life is to find a passion that drives you out of bed in the morning. If you find something you love, you'll be good at it, and you'll succeed. I used to say that to my math students, many of whom hated math. They sure didn't need to love math, but they had to love something!

larryo': Sounds like you had to wander a little to get there, right?

ltelkins: Sure did - there are a lot of things I love. It took me a little while to figure out which I loved best. Sounds like you wandered a little, too? I just worry about people who don't allow themselves to feel passionately interested in things. Get up, get going!

larryo': I did, indeed wander quite a bit. I generally follow your approach, however. The thing that seems to often stop people, seems to me, is fear.

ltelkins: Yes. There is a lot of fear in academia of being wrong - it makes some people unwilling to say anything at all. I think everyone feels fear about something. It's great, I think, to fail a bit so that you are not so afraid of it. And then, in my field there is a lot of learning how to clearly state what you are sure of and what you are questioning, and why, all a part of clear thinking. It's always OK not to know something, but then, you have to go try to figure it out. Goodness knows that's a hurdle I've had to jump a few times getting over fears of this and that.
An interesting fear I talk about sometimes involves the remote field work we do in Siberia. A number of friends wouldn't have gone, they said, because it was too far from civilization and felt too exposed, and plus, no kitchens and bathrooms...and then there are others who would do it in one second given the chance.

larryo': Hah! That didn't even occur to me. But It would have been my wife's first thought! Along those lines, any advice to young women who might be interested in the geosciences. It still tends to be a male-dominated field, no?

ltelkins: Yes, like all the physical sciences, it's still male-dominated at the top. Our department is great, lead by Maria Zuber, who is a NASA mission scientist among other things. We have about 20 percent women on our faculty. Advice...I don't think I have any advice for women that's different from advice for men - work hard, get along with people if you can, follow the most interesting questions. There are lots of opportunities to get involved in research as an undergraduate, and I think that's key.

larryo': Ah yes. Get going as an undergraduate. Great advice!

ltelkins: Don't you think that's a good idea? Working in a field is very idfferent from taking classes.

larryo': Well yeah. The hardest part about being an outdoorsy person who loves the natural world is being stuck in a classroom. So get out and do research!

ltelkins: I was talking to a class recently about the problems with choosing who to take into the field, and how so many would-be geologists really love to hike, but it turns out they don't like staring at rocks for hours and using hammers and carrying packs full of rocks, so it turns out they really want to spend their careers trekking. Then the next day a student came into my office looking a little stricken, and she said to me, "I think...I just really like to hike!" So try it, and find out!

larryo': Great story! Great distinction too.

ltelkins: But to be honest I do spend most of my time in front of computers.

larryo': Well, that's all of us these days, I'm afraid. It looks like times up. Thanks for your help and times with this!

ltelkins: Thanks so much for asking!

larryo': I'll try to let you know when we publish. I'm not exactly sure because it's a special series. Is there a picture of yourself we can use?

ltelkins: Sure, there's one on my website and a bunch on siberia.mit.edu - if you see one you like you can grab it or I can send some along.

larryo': Great. I'll take a look. Have a great rest of the day!

ltelkins: Thanks, you, too!

Article posted May 18, 2009.

MORE INTERVIEWS