job description

I'm a Professor of Geology at the University of California, San Diego. I specialize in igneous petrology, which is the study of rocks formed from molten lava. I teach geology and earth science, and I conduct research. I teach at the undergraduate level, and I also teach graduate students at graduate school of UCSD, Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Basically, I teach other geologists as they earn their master's and Ph.D. degrees. The research part of my job requires me to go to the field or sample site, collect rock samples, find a scientific "problem" that I want to solve, then analyze the samples in order to get the answers to the problem I posed earlier.

Geologists normally go into the industry doing private work for corporations and companies, and make a salary equal to or more than what I earn. But, I chose the academic path because learning is interesting to me. I also get to do things that few other people have done, such as go on submarines like the Alvin, and travel to foreign places for my work.

I have taught mineralogy, the study of minerals. Igneous rocks are made up of minerals, so in order to study igneous rocks, you have to study what they are composed of. During that class, I teach a basic understanding of minerals. Also, I teach petrography, or how to examine thin sections. Thin sections are minerals cut into slivers and put into slides in order to look at them under a microscope. I also teach petrology, the course after mineralogy, which is looking at rocks made up of minerals.

I look at the origin of magma (molten rock containing minerals and gases). Since magmas are so hot, I look at rocks that have solidified from magma. When magmas erupt they're called lava, and once lava cools, it forms rocks. I collect igneous rocks, and by studying the rocks, I can decipher the history of the magma, where they came from and how it is related to the history of the earth.

We all experience geology every day of our lives. Every one of us has to live on the Earth's crust. But, geologists look for deposits, explore and analyze rocks, look for precious metals. They are the explorers, the prospectors. They study the lay of the land.

education & career path

When I was in high school, my brother, who is a mining engineer (someone who mines ore deposits, gold and silver), and my other brother, who is a meteorological engineer (someone who processes the ore into metrological metals) asked me what I wanted to do. I was the youngest in a big family. I looked up to them because they were my older brothers, and I wanted to impress them, so I said I wanted to do geology.

Yes, but then I started to really like it. I went to the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Philippines. I took Introduction to Geology, and I realized that I liked geology, and not just because my brothers were into earth science and I wanted to be like them. It was interesting to me, and so I found what I liked to do.

I went to my brother's mine between my junior and senior years. He was the mining engineer of a mining camp in Davao, Philippines in a remote corner of the province. They have their own mining town, and I stayed there for two months. I was paid as a trainee, and I also practiced geology, mapping and looking at rocks. The ore was already there, so I just had to make maps. I had to keep a record of the developments.

Yes. I was a scholar for three years, so I had to work three years to pay it off. I was employed in the Philippines at a place that would be the equivalent of the United States Geological Survey. My main job was to survey areas and map them according to the geological mapping quadrangle, on a 1:50,000 scale. I went to the field with other geologists, and we mapped out areas, examining the rock exposures and the locations, and sometimes we would find ore deposits on the side.

After working for three years, I went to the United States and got my master’s degree at the University of Akron in Ohio. It took me about two years. I chose a master’s degree because I wasn't sure that I wanted a Ph.D. Getting a masters is a really good stepping stone to decide if you want to go to earn a doctorate degree. My thesis for my master's degree was about the petrology of Pre-Cambrian granite and granite-related rocks in Casper Mountain, Wyoming.

I realized I liked geological research, so before I finished my masters, I started applying for Ph.D. programs. I earned my Ph.D. in four years at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. For my Ph.D., my thesis was on anomalously young volcanoes on old hot spot traces. Part one was on geology and petrology of Cocos Island, and I haven't done part two. It's been 27 years!

Right after graduation, I worked at a prestigious institution in Washington D.C. It's a non-profit organization that focuses on research. I was a post-doctoral fellow there. I did research, analyzed samples, and went to the field and collected samples. After that, I went to the University of Miami as an assistant professor. I taught, did research, did cruises (ocean voyages during which samples are collected) and collected samples by dredging (removing soil samples using highly specified equipment) and by using submersibles (submarines and other like equipment). Then I went to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography as an assistant professor, doing more or less the same thing I did at the University of Miami. Now, I'm a full professor at Scripps.

my day

If I am at the office, I go to work by 8:00 a.m. I drive or bike 10 miles to work. I check my emails and look at my meeting schedule for the day. Then I start my research or work on writing. After that, it is time for meetings. You have to do some "community service" in my job, so I am a vice-chair on the Committee on Affirmative Action at the University of California, San Diego. In addition, I teach once or twice a week. If I am not teaching, I am preparing for lectures for the next day. Also, I have to go to the lab and supervise my graduate students. And, on top of all those things, I have to write proposals to get money from the government for my other research projects.

That's the exciting part of my job! I get to go to many places and study the area myself. Samples are useless if you don't know where they come from. So I travel, go to the area I am interested in, and collect samples so I can look at the samples in perspective. Some of the places I have been include the Arctic Circle and Mexico. Last December, I went to Ross Sea off the Antarctic continent to dredge some samples from the bottom of the ocean. We got to go to Antarctica and stay for a couple days. I went to Cocos Island, which is part of Costa Rica. More importantly, it is also part of the Galapagos hot spot where a volcano could have resided, aiding in the formation of new land. I've been to Nepal, Tonga, Fiji, all over South America and New Zealand. I've also been to Indonesia, and I am in the process of analyzing samples that we collected there.

Research is a multi-step process, and each step depends on the one before it, so it takes up the majority of my day. I go to the lab and dissolve samples, and make sure all the samples are prepared. I also have to run back and forth from the instrumentation rooms to make sure that the machines are working properly. I work on the TIMS, Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometer, which measure isotopes of elements, like strontium, neodymium, and lead. I also use the ICP-MS, the Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer, to study trace elements. I measure major elements with the ICP-OES, Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emissions Spectrometer. I can be in any of those. I also have to look at thin sections with my microscope in my room.

Sometimes they are just around the campus, but other times I have to go to different countries to meet with other scientists in the international community. I go to international meetings to present my results and exchange ideas with other scientists. For example, I just came back from Northern Ireland for a meeting on LIPS, large igneous provinces. I'm also a member of a bunch of international committees on geology as part of my international "community service" duties. My meetings take me as close as San Francisco or as far away as Australia. Last year, I lived in Bremen, Germany for two months to help conduct geological research at the University of Bremen. Between meetings and collecting samples, I travel to a foreign country at least once every two months!

salary & lifestyle

When I started as a post-doc, I was took a job that only made $22,000 a year. Since it was a prestigious institution, it was worth the lower pay. Now, I make around $93,000 a year for nine months of work, with the option of getting summer salary, where they divide my nine-month salary by nine and give two months of extra salary if I get my research proposals funded. Since I work at a public university, it's lower than what private universities offer their full professors.

Yes, it is very important to be physically fit. My research involves some field mapping and hiking. If I don't keep up, I won't be able to do my research. As I mentioned before, I often bike 10 miles to work. This is not only because it is good for the environment, but more importantly for the exercise. I also exercise a lot at home so I can climb the mountains in areas with higher elevations, such as Nepal.

No, actually it is really relaxed. You can work seven days a week or two days a week. The salary is fixed. Normally I work six days a week, ten hours a day on Monday through Friday, and about five hours on Saturdays. Then, sometimes I teach on Saturdays for the whole day. When I'm out in the field, it's all work of course, even though I'm in different locations. There is a lot of variety every day; you just have to keep on top of things at your own pace. You are driven by your own personal motivation, and it's totally up to you how much you work. If you are into something exciting, you'll realize you can work and work non-stop!

pros, cons & trends

Yes. You leave your family a lot, and that is hard. You are separated from your loved ones, and you get tired. Plus, the risks of getting injured in the field are great, and it becomes especially dangerous when you are in nations with limited healthcare. I have to go to the doctor a lot before completing some of my longer journeys, and take additional medication for diseases that might have been eradicated in the United States, but are still present in third-world countries. But, you do get to see so much of the world and go to places where many people will never be able to travel! There are places I've been to that I've never dreamed of going to.

It's hard to get funding, as with any profession right now. You have to get your money from the government, and it's getting harder and harder. But, you get to solve problems, and your scientific discoveries are being published, so it's worth it. You learn a lot and get recognition for what you've done.

Right now, I am writing a paper about the Tonga-Kermadec island arc system. I did a cruise awhile ago, and we got some samples on the subducting plate beneath the Tonga-Kermadec arc. My graduate student and I are analyzing those samples. I want to compare it with the other known arc output from previous research done on the Tonga-Kermadec arc.

I'm going to continue to teach and do research. I want to go back to Antarctica, and I'm waiting for my funding. I also just started a project in the Gulf of Mexico. We will use an ROV, Remotely Operated Vehicle, to collect samples. If I retire, I might stop research. But, I'll definitely enjoy the things I understood about our earth, and I'll always go hiking and enjoy nature.

advice

Well, you have to have proper qualifications. Not everyone off the street can get into this field; you have to have good grades and good performance in your bachelor's degree curriculum. You have to exhibit strong character or drive, and show that you have the capability to learn. You also need to have the intelligence and willpower to want to go to school for quite a long time. You can be really bright in the classroom, but have no drive in the laboratory and not know what questions to pose to solve the problem. Grades are good, but it's not the only thing that is needed.

Be ready to travel. Travel is a good experience and a good teacher. Most of my travels are official so they are paid for, because it is part of my research, part of my "community service" for the scientific community, or it is part of my duties to help out my fellow scientists.

First and foremost, you need a lot of education. Some people enter the field with limited education - there are noted prospectors who go out and search for ore and gold deposits and are successful. In fact, some people who find gold deposits are just trained; they are not even educated geologists. They do not really care about the rocks and the history behind it; they just are in it for the money. Education helps you mature, and you get the basic information before you practice the profession. Research geology is a never-ending learning experience. Even when you are teaching, you learn things while researching what to teach. And even while you teach, you are also learning from your students.

You have to ask yourself, "Do you just 'like' rocks?" You can collect rocks as a hobby. You can collect many things and just enjoy looking at them. My passion for geology is not just about collecting rocks. I don't even have rocks in my house; I leave them in the lab. But, I enjoy geology because I get to study rocks, and more importantly understand their origin. I don't just study rocks for their commercial value or because they are appealing, like some geologists do when they look for gold ore deposits or diamonds. I collect rocks, because I want to understand and analyze the history behind them. By deciphering the origin of that rock, I get to understand the origin of the mantle (the area that is underneath the crust) and eventually understand the evolution of the earth.