Leah worked deploying seismographs for the iMUSH project. Leah is from New Rochelle, NY. Leah went to the University of Rochester for undergrad. For graduate school, Leah will be going to the California Institute of Technology to study geology. Here are her responses to some questions:
What have you studied in science or are currently studying?
My science background lies mainly in geology. I participated in 2 seismometer deployments: one on Mt. St. Helens, and one that took place in the Atlantic Ocean. On Mt. St. Helens, I helped to deploy seismometers. The seismometers captured sound waves emitted by a planned explosion and will help to image the magma chamber underneath the volcano. In the Atlantic Ocean, I participated in a 17 day cruise. We dropped seismometers off of our (small) ship into the ocean. The seismometers stay at the ocean floor for a year before they are picked up. They gather information about earthquakes under the ocean and this information will help to look at and understand very old fault systems.
I was very lucky, and also got to participate in some other cool projects. In one project, I got to examine rocks under a microscope and deduce whether or not they had been exposed to high energy explosions. In another project, I examined a coal fire that has been burning in Centralia, PA. The coal was accidentally ignited in 1962, and has been burning ever since. When we were hiking, we could easily identify the fires underground because of all the hot smoke released at vents in the surface.
Do you have any ideas on what a middle school student could do in Science right now?
Lots of museums, zoos, botanical gardens, and schools have camps and after-school programs that want to show different areas of science. If you want to become an astronaut or planetary scientist, you might want to look for something like this (http://spacecenter.org/education-programs/day-camps/ages-12-14-summer/) near you. If you begin to have your own questions about the world, and want to begin answering them, talk to a teacher about how to devise an experiment.
It also helps to peruse the internet and find opportunities. I know that the Earthwatch Institute runs programs for teenagers (and sometimes school groups, including teachers) to learn about nature conservation. I believe that some other groups look to teach younger students about earthquakes and other natural hazards.
What or who inspired you to get into Science in the first place? What do you like about Science?
Honestly, I had trouble getting through long reading and writing assignments. However, I always loved understanding how things work - how ecosystems work, how plants work, how human bodies work, and even how the earth works. I was lucky to have some really great biology, physics and chemistry teachers in middle and high school who knew a lot about how these things worked, and they also led very fun and intriguing classes. My parents also like science a lot, and have always been very supportive of me, no matter what I'm interested in.
Science is an amazing field- it explains how things work, but also how to fix things that go wrong. Right now, science provides lots of evidence for human-caused climate change, and it will also help us to return the planet to a better state and to find new alternative and sustainable energy sources.
What I like about geology, in particular, is that it's so hands-on. You don't have to imagine or draw DNA and chemical structures, or devise crazy mathematical equations to understand astronomy. You can go outside and see different rocks, volcanoes and faults and begin understanding it from there.
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What advice do you have for a middle school student who is interested in becoming a scientist?
What I like about geology, in particular, is that it's so hands-on. You don't have to imagine or draw DNA and chemical structures, or devise crazy mathematical equations to understand astronomy. You can go outside and see different rocks, volcanoes and faults and begin understanding it from there.
Something else that's important (and I haven't yet learned) is computer science. Nowadays, nearly every science field uses fancy computer programs to help process and look at data. It's very useful to know some coding languages (Python, C++, etc.), and from what I hear, they help you to use more advanced science-y computer programs with more ease. Good math skills are often very helpful with these programs, too.
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Leah added this:
It's totally ok if you don't like science! There are plenty of economists, journalists, artists, teachers, lawyers, therapists, human rights advocates, business managers and other professionals, and our society needs them, too. People also change their minds. You might want to be a doctor all of your life until you see health clinics in another country, which will change your mind and you'll want to write a news article about it. Be open to new ideas and do something that you find important and that makes you happy.